time in a bottle 18 "Diamonds and Rust"
Title: Time in a Bottle
Chapter: 18. "Diamonds and Rust"
Author: pengyn
Rating: Teen
Spoilers: Through to "The End"
Summary: James returns to the real world, trying to deal with his grief and still hold on to his memories of Juliet. Meanwhile, thirty years earlier, a series of sabotages in Dharmaville leads him to suspect the one person he doesn't want to believe could have done it.
previous: prologue one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen
Chapter 18 "Diamonds and Rust"
They'd taken refuge from the sun and were now lying in the shade beneath a banyan tree, her head resting against his chest. James was surprised by how easy it was to be with Juliet. He knew she was needed at the Motor Pool - knew that she was going to have to use one of her days off to make up for the fact that she hadn’t been to work all day. He also knew that she was going to have to dodge questions about why she’d been out gallivanting through the jungle and why the head of security had requested her presence instead of someone from his team. He knew her non-answers would invite gossip.
Yet here she was relaxing against him, one arm draped across his stomach - looking as if there was nowhere else she needed to be.
James figured they could’ve started the Dharma Van an hour ago but when she didn’t suggest it, neither did he. Part of him had wanted to head back just so that he could start exploring every inch of her skin and not just the parts that weren’t covered by clothes, but he knew as well as she did that a meeting with Horace and a mountain of paperwork awaited his return. This was as alone as they were going to get and as long as they were out here, they were going to take advantage of that.
Juliet stirred beside him.
“Nice nap?” he asked.
“Mm,” she sighed, watching his fingers trail up and down her arm.
James smiled lopsidedly. “You enjoyin’ that?”
Juliet tilted her head so that she could see his face - and so that he could see her smile. She reached up and pushed his hair back, tucking the loose strands behind his ears - grinning when they didn’t stay there.
“Sorry, it ain’t tamable,” he told her.
Juliet traced a finger down his cheek and along the side of his jaw. He hadn’t shaved in three days but she didn’t seem to mind. Her thumb brushed over his lips and he kissed her palm when it followed. Lifting her gently by the elbow, he tugged her toward him, pulling her on to his chest. Their lips met, salt mingling with sweat as his mouth moved over hers. Her lips parted and his tongue dipped in to taste her while his hands circled over her hips. He kissed her again, savoring the way her body felt against him. One of her hands brushed against the side of his face, her fingers moving through his hair as he tried to pull her closer. What had started out as a slow exploration was turning into heated desperation - he kept kissing her again and again, his tongue seeking hers, their mouths moving to the rhythm of his pulse - her pulse - hell he wasn’t even sure anymore. James grazed his lips along her jaw, trying to catch his breath. His hands were still moving beneath the edge of her shirt and his fingers brushed over the scar on the small of her back.
“James.”
He felt the shift almost immediately. Juliet pushed up a little to look at him - he imagined she would have pushed herself up all the way if he wasn’t purposefully holding her in place, his fingers still tracing the outline of the mark that the Others had given her.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Her eyes were wide, almost pleading and he could tell that she was embarrassed, so he did the only thing he could think of to do and kissed her again. She surprised him by not pulling away - instead she clung to him, pressing desperate kisses against his mouth.
“It’s okay,” he whispered back, tugging her towards him and rolling them over so that she was now lying beneath him.
Juliet smiled weakly as he brushed the hair out of her eyes and pressed a kiss against her temple. “Sorry,” she said.
“Ah,” he replied, “Not sure if you noticed but I had this pretty big freak out the other day.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Said something stupid to do this girl I live with. Come to think of it, I’m probably lucky to be alive.”
“Uh, huh,” she said - faint amusement in her tone.
“Hell yeah, else I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he told her, kissing her once more.
“Mm,” Juliet mumbled against him. “So you live with a girl, huh?”
James grinned. “Yeah, why, is that a problem?”
“I don’t know, is she cute?”
“Never really thought about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Although Miles might have mentioned something a while back ‘bout her being hot,” James replied.
“Did he now?”
“Yeah, y’know, in - casual conversation.”
“Uh, huh?”
“Yeah,” he repeated, kissing her again.
Juliet grinned. “So,” she began, trailing a finger down his cheek, “when Miles happened to mention - in casual conversation - that your roommate was - what did you say again?”
“Hot,” James replied.
“Yes, that was it. Um, so what did you -“
His lips were on hers before she could finish the sentence.
“Mm, changing the subject,” she mumbled.
James chuckled and rolled a little so that his elbow was resting on the ground next to her. He ran his fingers through her hair, watching the way she smiled up at him - almost lazily - and wandered why in the hell she’d allowed him to fix the mess he’d made. He was used to it, used to being an ass and used to being called on it. People left when he pushed them hard enough. But this was new - this give and take - having something to believe in, having someone who believed in him. James wasn’t sure if it was something he’d always wanted - he’d made too many mistakes to start idealizing. But here he was, feeling about as close to perfect as he was ever going to get - and it was all he wanted now.
“You still here?” Juliet asked him.
He smiled. “Yeah.”
She looked at him curiously. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he repeated, running his palm along her cheek. “I - I just... you… you’re beautiful.”
Juliet bit her lip, her expression telling him she wasn’t all that used to hearing people say that, so he kissed her again, running his hands down her arms and lifting them so that she had no choice but to wrap them around his neck. Her lips told him just how much she appreciated him saying that.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she replied eventually.
James grinned.
“La Fleur! Come in, La Fleur!”
James sighed, resting his forehead against Juliet’s. “Tell me you don’t hear that.”
“La Fleur! This is an emergency! Where are you? Pick up!”
“’cause if you didn’t hear that, I didn’t hear that,” he continued.
Juliet smiled. “Sounds like Stuart wants you.”
“Crazy power monger probably just lost his glasses.”
“La Fleur! Dammit I need you!”
James gave Juliet a look that told her in no uncertain terms that his needs were far greater than Radzinsky’s. She smiled at his frustration.
“You should get that,” she told him, nodding towards the van. She pushed him gently, watching as he took his own sweet time in answering Radzinky’s call for help.
James grabbed the walkie off the front seat. “What?!”
“La Fleur! It’s Radzinsky.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m busy, what do you want?”
“I need you at the Flame, right now!”
“I don’t got time to go to the Flame, I’ve got work to do,” James replied.
“Just get over here. There’s been a break-in.”
James rolled his eyes. “Great,” he muttered.
“What was that, I missed it, could you repeat, over?”
James raised the walkie to his lips, “I said thanks you bug-eyed ego maniac for ruinin’ my evening. Gimme twenty minutes.” He tossed the walkie back into the van.
Juliet was now standing beside him. “Come on,” she said, squeezing his hand before climbing in through the driver’s side and scooting over to make room for him. “Let’s see if this thing starts.”
It did.
“You wanna drop me back at the barracks before you head out?”
“No. If I don’t take you with me, I’ll never escape Radzinsky,” he replied.
She smiled. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”
James put the van into gear and drove off toward the communications station. “No, we wouldn’t,” he smiled.
Jin was waiting for them outside. “I try to handle but he insist on seeing you,” he shrugged.
“’course he did,” James sighed. He glanced back at Juliet - she seemed content to wait outside with Jin, not that he blamed her.
“So what happened?” he asked, watching Radzinsky pace back and forth across the carpet.
“Blueprints,” Radzinsky said.
“You wanna elaborate that one for me, Sparky?”
“Blueprints, on my desk, in my study - stolen!”
“At the barracks?”
“Yes!”
“Then why are we out here?”
“So that the thief won’t know that I’m on to him!” Radzinsky hissed.
“Do you even know who the thief is?”
“No. But you’re going to get on to it,” Radzinsky replied, speaking in a tone one usually reserves for small children.
“What exactly was in these plans?” James asked, pushing his irritation aside.
“I’ve been mapping electro-magnetic hotspots across the Island. Horace still won’t give the go-ahead to resume construction of the Orchid until we can improve the damn safety protocols, so I’ve been looking at ways to tap localized pockets of energy.”
“And?” James asked, not remotely interested in the answer.
“And I found one. I created an outline, mapped the construction site - everything,” Radzinsky told him.
“An’ you’re worried that if the plans fell into the wrong hands -“
“Don’t try to tell me that the Hostiles haven’t infiltrated our camp,” Radzinsky interrupted. “I know they’re behind this!”
“Alright Elmo, just calm down, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this.”
Radzinsky was glancing out the window. “Yes, well maybe if you hadn’t been spending the entire day trying to impress your girlfriend, you’d have gotten to the bottom of this already.”
“Watch your mouth,” James warned, stepping close enough to make Radzinsky uncomfortable.
“If the Hostiles have seen these plans,” Radzinsky continued, backing up a little, “then we can’t dig there.”
“So dig somewhere else,” James replied.
“It’s not that simple! These things take time. It could be years before I find another pocket worth exploring!”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” James told him, heading back out the door.
“Where are you going?” Radzinsky cried.
“To figure this out!”
Jin and Juliet were leaning against the van - the expressions on both their faces leaving him with no doubt that they’d heard every word.
“You think the hostiles would be interested in stealin’ those blueprints?” he asked.
Juliet nodded. “As far as they’re concerned, the Dharma Initiative shouldn’t be on this Island.”
James let out a breath. “Yeah.”
“You - talk to Richard?” Jin asked.
James looked at him and nodded.
“What he say?”
“That he didn’t do it,” James replied.
“You... believe him?”
“I believe him, but that don’t mean someone else ain’t behind it,” James replied.
“Other, Others?” Juliet asked, almost amused.
James smiled. “C’mon, let’s get back to the compound. I’m gonna have to drop you back home and head to security,” he said, looking at Juliet. “That okay, with you?”
“Absolutely,” she replied. “Why don’t you and Jin take the jeep - I can drive the van back to the Motor Pool.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” he replied. “Thanks.”
“I’ll bring dinner later,” Juliet said, grinning when Jin gave her a thumbs up.
She climbed back into the van and followed the jeep all the way back to the compound before splitting off and heading for the Motor Pool. By the time she’d parked and signed the vehicle manifest, night had fallen.
When she’d first arrived on the Island, it had taken her almost two months to get used to the darkness. Nights were black and even though a million stars would pattern the sky above, it was difficult to see more than a few feet in front of you. Juliet knew her way home well enough and wasn’t particularly afraid of the dark but even she had to admit that the silence was spooky.
She was about to head for the barracks when somewhere behind her, something clattered to the ground, making her jump. She heard that sound every day, although usually it was accompanied by blow torches, electric sanders and work place chatter. It was the sound of metal hitting concrete. Juliet grabbed a flashlight from one of the drawers - she couldn’t see anything from this side of the van so she walked around it, lifting the flashlight and squinting down the other end of the Motor Pool.
She could hear the blood pumping through her ears as she walked - one cautious step in front of the other, aware that the hairs on her skin were standing on end - looking ahead and then down the length of each vehicle.
She spotted it next to one of the jeeps - a wrench lying near one of the tires. It must have fallen off the workbench. Breathing a sigh of relief, Juliet wiped the cold sweat off her brow. She bent down to pick it up and placed it on one of the counter tops - someone would put it away in the morning.
She turned to go, rounded the jeep and smacked straight into something solid. She screamed, dropping the flashlight and stumbled when the ‘something solid’ began to move. She could feel strong hands gripping her arms and didn’t hesitate before sending her knee into her assailant’s stomach. She heard a grunt - unmistakably male - and kicked out nailing her boot in his groin. Her attacker stumbled and she used the moment to jam her elbow into his solar plexus, sending him spiraling toward the floor. Placing one knee in the small of his back, Juliet grabbed his arm and twisted it back over his shoulder. She ignored his cry of pain and grabbing the flashlight, aimed it at his face.
“Willie?”
“Yeah...” Willie groaned.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry, I saw you come back but I didn’t want to startle you so I hid, but I knocked the stupid wrench over and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Juliet released the hold she had on him and helped him to his feet. “You scared the hell out of me,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” Willie repeated. “There was a spill but one of the kids got sick in the cafeteria today and they said to make that a priority. Then I had to go security because that guy Miles wanted to ask me a bit more about my - you know - my kidnapping and then I went home, took a shower - I forgot about the spill so I came back out here to finish up.”
“Okay,” Juliet said. “Okay - well no harm done just next time let someone know you’re here.”
Willie nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m just, I’m gonna go now. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Juliet replied. “Oh wait, have you eaten? I’m already cooking for four if you’re hungry.”
“Oh thanks, but I’m good,” Willie told her, “I was just gonna stop by the cafeteria and grab some of the lunch leftovers. The kitchen staff made lasagna.”
“But... isn’t the cafeteria closed?”
“Yeah it is,” Willie replied, “but best thing about being a janitor - actually probably the only good thing - I have keys to everything. ‘night Juliet.”
“Goodnight,” she replied.
Juliet watched him go, unable to focus on anything but his last words. Her blood ran cold.
Willie had keys to everything.