I'm Not Your Saviour - Lost - Charlie/Juliet
Title: I'm Not Your Saviour
Pairing: pre-Charlie/Juliet
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG
A/N: Five interconnected drabbles written for missy_useless for the ABC meme. Goes AU from S1.
Summary: Juliet was there when Ethan brought Charlie and Claire from the beach.
She was there when Ethan brought them in: Charlie and Claire. Even half-conscious, Charlie had been slurring insults and threats.
Now, three weeks later, nothing comes.
The colour has been sapped from his skin and he doesn't respond when Juliet shines a penlight in his eyes. "You should lower his dose," she tells Ethan.
"He was violent," Ethan says, frowning like he's concerned.
"I said 'lower', not 'stop'." Her mouth twitches as if she's smiling.
Ethan nods. "I'll get right on that."
Looking back at Charlie, sitting alone and dormant, she tells herself that she doesn't feel sorry for him.
*
"Charlie," she says, smooth and calm.
His eyes meet hers, seeing her this time. There's a far-off glaze to them, but it's an improvement.
"Charlie, do you know where you are?"
He pauses and takes his time to come up with an answer. He looks around the room they're keeping him in: bland, clinical, grey. It's worse than any hospital.
"On the island." Words slurred. She'll have to tell Ethan to lower his medication again.
"That's right; you're on the island," she confirms. He is trapped here, just like her.
And, just like her, Ben will never let him escape.
*
"I want to go back," he tells her when she checks in on him. His blue eyes are sharp and alert and his mind is still strong. Claire, in another room, is too trusting but in Charlie rests the opposite disposition.
"We can't let you do that," she says.
"Yeah," he corrects, "you can."
She could do it. All it would take would be to leave the door unlatched when she exits. He could be free - and she could claim an innocent mistake.
She meets his gaze. "I won't."
If she is a prisoner, why shouldn't he be one too?
*
"You could come with me," he says, voice low and sweet. "You and me, we could go back to the beach together. You don't want this any more than I do, Juliet."
It's all too tempting. It wouldn't be an escape from the island but it would be an escape from here, an escape from Ben. It sounds too good to be true.
It is. She knows it is. At his camp, she would be an outsider, a stranger, an enemy.
"You know nothing about what I want," she tells Charlie, though he's closer to the truth than he knows.
*
It is dark when they leave. Charlie walks unsteadily, emerging from the hatch: he's been inside for so long now. On his arm, Juliet's hand steadies him.
She shouldn't be doing this, but she can't stop herself: won't. Charlie doesn't question her motives, and his only complaint is the absence of Claire. "We'll come back for her," Juliet promises, "when it's safe."
They leave together, side-by-side, two escapees: and when the sand begins to crunch beneath her feet and she sees the flickering of the camp's fire ahead, Juliet knows that they have finally made it to her new home.
Pairing: pre-Charlie/Juliet
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG
A/N: Five interconnected drabbles written for missy_useless for the ABC meme. Goes AU from S1.
Summary: Juliet was there when Ethan brought Charlie and Claire from the beach.
She was there when Ethan brought them in: Charlie and Claire. Even half-conscious, Charlie had been slurring insults and threats.
Now, three weeks later, nothing comes.
The colour has been sapped from his skin and he doesn't respond when Juliet shines a penlight in his eyes. "You should lower his dose," she tells Ethan.
"He was violent," Ethan says, frowning like he's concerned.
"I said 'lower', not 'stop'." Her mouth twitches as if she's smiling.
Ethan nods. "I'll get right on that."
Looking back at Charlie, sitting alone and dormant, she tells herself that she doesn't feel sorry for him.
*
"Charlie," she says, smooth and calm.
His eyes meet hers, seeing her this time. There's a far-off glaze to them, but it's an improvement.
"Charlie, do you know where you are?"
He pauses and takes his time to come up with an answer. He looks around the room they're keeping him in: bland, clinical, grey. It's worse than any hospital.
"On the island." Words slurred. She'll have to tell Ethan to lower his medication again.
"That's right; you're on the island," she confirms. He is trapped here, just like her.
And, just like her, Ben will never let him escape.
*
"I want to go back," he tells her when she checks in on him. His blue eyes are sharp and alert and his mind is still strong. Claire, in another room, is too trusting but in Charlie rests the opposite disposition.
"We can't let you do that," she says.
"Yeah," he corrects, "you can."
She could do it. All it would take would be to leave the door unlatched when she exits. He could be free - and she could claim an innocent mistake.
She meets his gaze. "I won't."
If she is a prisoner, why shouldn't he be one too?
*
"You could come with me," he says, voice low and sweet. "You and me, we could go back to the beach together. You don't want this any more than I do, Juliet."
It's all too tempting. It wouldn't be an escape from the island but it would be an escape from here, an escape from Ben. It sounds too good to be true.
It is. She knows it is. At his camp, she would be an outsider, a stranger, an enemy.
"You know nothing about what I want," she tells Charlie, though he's closer to the truth than he knows.
*
It is dark when they leave. Charlie walks unsteadily, emerging from the hatch: he's been inside for so long now. On his arm, Juliet's hand steadies him.
She shouldn't be doing this, but she can't stop herself: won't. Charlie doesn't question her motives, and his only complaint is the absence of Claire. "We'll come back for her," Juliet promises, "when it's safe."
They leave together, side-by-side, two escapees: and when the sand begins to crunch beneath her feet and she sees the flickering of the camp's fire ahead, Juliet knows that they have finally made it to her new home.