Following, Part Twenty [Jack/Juliet] [R] [WIP]
Title: Following (Part Twenty)
Characters: Juliet, Jack, Charlotte, Daniel, Hurley, Bernard, Rose, Ben, Claire...
Pairing: Juliet/Jack, hints of Charlotte/Daniel
Rating: R (PG-13 - language for this part)
Spoilers: Season 4, Season 5 (sort of)
A/N: This thing is now officially 100 pages long in document form: I feel like I've reached an anniversary of sorts! :) Anyway, I don't love this chapter-- so I may be editing it some more as I go. That being said, comments = ♥!
~~
As they brought him back to his cell, Jack was so preoccupied by his conversation with Claire that he barely noticed the oddness of it when Cindy made him sit down, cuffing one of his hands to the wall. As a result, he wasn’t at all prepared for the sight that met his eyes when she pulled the burlap bag from over his head.
Juliet was sitting in his former cell, looking up at him from between the bars, her face smeared with blood. As soon as he looked at her, she smiled at him, her lip cracking open as she did it, and for a moment he was so shocked that he couldn’t do anything but stare back. The door of the cell rattled shut behind him.
“Juliet?” Her arms were already around him: she had stretched them out as far as they would go, her body pressed awkwardly up against the bars.
“You’re okay,” she was murmuring, as if she didn’t quite believe it herself. A sickening mixture of relief and fear overtook him as he began to process the labored way she was breathing, the misshapen bruise over her eye, and the gash on her forehead that was the source of most of the blood.
“What happened?” he said, looking her over worriedly.
“I got him out,” she said, her eyes bright, as clear as water in the darkness as she lifted them to his. She was still smiling. “Daniel. He’s gone.”
“You-Juliet-” he stuttered, his heart throbbing as though what she was describing was still happening in front of him.
“Ben-he thought that I trusted him, Jack-he actually thought that I would-that I could do that to someone again-”
He pulled against the handcuffs until his arm ached, drawing his free hand away from hers to cup her cheek very carefully.
“Did he do this to you?”
She shook her head, closing her eyes as though the motion hurt her.
“While I was getting Daniel out, some of the Others were at the gate,” she explained as he examined the mark on her forehead, “They saw him escape. They were going to stop him. I had to- I couldn’t let them-”
“And you just-threw yourself into the middle of it?”
She looked back at him without flinching and took his hand again, her warm fingers sliding between his, her knuckles bloody.
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, Juliet,” he said frustratedly, helplessly, “I told you-I told you to take care of yourself.”
“I did.” The corners of her mouth lifted almost serenely, reminding him of the way that she used to smile at him from behind the glass. “Jack, what he was trying to make me do-I would rather let Ben kill me than turn me back into that person again.”
He swallowed hard.
“Is that what he’s going to do? Kill you?” He felt his eyes glaze over as the rhetorical question became a genuine one.
“I don’t know,” she answered thickly, dropping her head and squeezing his hand. A long moment later, she murmured, “This place-it’s not like the camp. They don’t have trials here. Ben doesn’t need to even pretend to justify himself to these people. If he doesn’t think he can use me anymore-he’ll-” She took another difficult breath before she looked up at him. “He knows I won’t work for him anymore. The only reason he’ll hesitate is if he wants to use me to get something from you.”
He watched her eyes flick over him contemplatively. Then she pressed her lips together, her brow creasing with a sudden, painful determination.
“Don’t-” she began, “Don’t let him use me to threaten you, Jack. No matter what he says to you, you have to- I don’t want to be useful to him anymore. Do you understand?”
He returned her gaze darkly, clenching his jaw.
“Yeah. I understand,” he said after a long time, everything in him struggling against it, “But-”
“If he asks you to do something-to keep me alive, will you tell him-will you please tell him that you won’t-” She held his chin in her hand, forcing him to keep looking at her. His eyes moved dimly over the sticky blood on her white cheek, the soft, cracked bow of her lips.
“I-” he gritted his teeth, his voice suddenly hoarse, “I don’t know if I can.” His stomach was cramping in the way it had done when he was a child, caused by the same vague, helpless feeling of knowing all at once that there was something he was supposed to do and that he couldn’t do it. “I understand that it’s what you want,” he continued quietly, “but I just- I need you here, Juliet. I can’t-”
Her face changed almost instantly, her expression going raw as though he had just peeled back layers from between them, and he couldn’t tell whether the way she was looking at him meant anger or sadness or something else. Her eyes were damp, her face flushed. She breathed in as if she was about to speak. Then there was a noise at the door.
She turned before he did, the words forgotten in her surprise, her fingers curling tightly around his. His whole body tensed as Cindy and several men opened the door and moved toward the cells.
Juliet did not go with them willingly, but with her injuries, she wasn’t able to put up much of a fight (there had been something wrong with her breathing and he hadn’t gotten a chance to look at her ribs, he thought strangely, uselessly, afterward). He pulled at the handcuffs until he’d scraped most of the skin from his wrist, but in the end, the metal held, and two pairs of heavy hands gripped Juliet and moved her out the door.
Jack shouted for Cindy until he couldn’t anymore, long after they had disappeared into the stairwell. Then he held his breath, waiting for Ben.
About an hour later, Jack realized that Juliet had been wrong. The room remained silent: Ben was not coming.
It was only a few moments after Jack had lost all hope that that his ears began to ring, a light flashed, and the air filled suddenly with black smoke.
~~
Part Twenty-One
Characters: Juliet, Jack, Charlotte, Daniel, Hurley, Bernard, Rose, Ben, Claire...
Pairing: Juliet/Jack, hints of Charlotte/Daniel
Rating: R (PG-13 - language for this part)
Spoilers: Season 4, Season 5 (sort of)
A/N: This thing is now officially 100 pages long in document form: I feel like I've reached an anniversary of sorts! :) Anyway, I don't love this chapter-- so I may be editing it some more as I go. That being said, comments = ♥!
~~
As they brought him back to his cell, Jack was so preoccupied by his conversation with Claire that he barely noticed the oddness of it when Cindy made him sit down, cuffing one of his hands to the wall. As a result, he wasn’t at all prepared for the sight that met his eyes when she pulled the burlap bag from over his head.
Juliet was sitting in his former cell, looking up at him from between the bars, her face smeared with blood. As soon as he looked at her, she smiled at him, her lip cracking open as she did it, and for a moment he was so shocked that he couldn’t do anything but stare back. The door of the cell rattled shut behind him.
“Juliet?” Her arms were already around him: she had stretched them out as far as they would go, her body pressed awkwardly up against the bars.
“You’re okay,” she was murmuring, as if she didn’t quite believe it herself. A sickening mixture of relief and fear overtook him as he began to process the labored way she was breathing, the misshapen bruise over her eye, and the gash on her forehead that was the source of most of the blood.
“What happened?” he said, looking her over worriedly.
“I got him out,” she said, her eyes bright, as clear as water in the darkness as she lifted them to his. She was still smiling. “Daniel. He’s gone.”
“You-Juliet-” he stuttered, his heart throbbing as though what she was describing was still happening in front of him.
“Ben-he thought that I trusted him, Jack-he actually thought that I would-that I could do that to someone again-”
He pulled against the handcuffs until his arm ached, drawing his free hand away from hers to cup her cheek very carefully.
“Did he do this to you?”
She shook her head, closing her eyes as though the motion hurt her.
“While I was getting Daniel out, some of the Others were at the gate,” she explained as he examined the mark on her forehead, “They saw him escape. They were going to stop him. I had to- I couldn’t let them-”
“And you just-threw yourself into the middle of it?”
She looked back at him without flinching and took his hand again, her warm fingers sliding between his, her knuckles bloody.
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, Juliet,” he said frustratedly, helplessly, “I told you-I told you to take care of yourself.”
“I did.” The corners of her mouth lifted almost serenely, reminding him of the way that she used to smile at him from behind the glass. “Jack, what he was trying to make me do-I would rather let Ben kill me than turn me back into that person again.”
He swallowed hard.
“Is that what he’s going to do? Kill you?” He felt his eyes glaze over as the rhetorical question became a genuine one.
“I don’t know,” she answered thickly, dropping her head and squeezing his hand. A long moment later, she murmured, “This place-it’s not like the camp. They don’t have trials here. Ben doesn’t need to even pretend to justify himself to these people. If he doesn’t think he can use me anymore-he’ll-” She took another difficult breath before she looked up at him. “He knows I won’t work for him anymore. The only reason he’ll hesitate is if he wants to use me to get something from you.”
He watched her eyes flick over him contemplatively. Then she pressed her lips together, her brow creasing with a sudden, painful determination.
“Don’t-” she began, “Don’t let him use me to threaten you, Jack. No matter what he says to you, you have to- I don’t want to be useful to him anymore. Do you understand?”
He returned her gaze darkly, clenching his jaw.
“Yeah. I understand,” he said after a long time, everything in him struggling against it, “But-”
“If he asks you to do something-to keep me alive, will you tell him-will you please tell him that you won’t-” She held his chin in her hand, forcing him to keep looking at her. His eyes moved dimly over the sticky blood on her white cheek, the soft, cracked bow of her lips.
“I-” he gritted his teeth, his voice suddenly hoarse, “I don’t know if I can.” His stomach was cramping in the way it had done when he was a child, caused by the same vague, helpless feeling of knowing all at once that there was something he was supposed to do and that he couldn’t do it. “I understand that it’s what you want,” he continued quietly, “but I just- I need you here, Juliet. I can’t-”
Her face changed almost instantly, her expression going raw as though he had just peeled back layers from between them, and he couldn’t tell whether the way she was looking at him meant anger or sadness or something else. Her eyes were damp, her face flushed. She breathed in as if she was about to speak. Then there was a noise at the door.
She turned before he did, the words forgotten in her surprise, her fingers curling tightly around his. His whole body tensed as Cindy and several men opened the door and moved toward the cells.
Juliet did not go with them willingly, but with her injuries, she wasn’t able to put up much of a fight (there had been something wrong with her breathing and he hadn’t gotten a chance to look at her ribs, he thought strangely, uselessly, afterward). He pulled at the handcuffs until he’d scraped most of the skin from his wrist, but in the end, the metal held, and two pairs of heavy hands gripped Juliet and moved her out the door.
Jack shouted for Cindy until he couldn’t anymore, long after they had disappeared into the stairwell. Then he held his breath, waiting for Ben.
About an hour later, Jack realized that Juliet had been wrong. The room remained silent: Ben was not coming.
It was only a few moments after Jack had lost all hope that that his ears began to ring, a light flashed, and the air filled suddenly with black smoke.
~~
Part Twenty-One