puppets on strings all dance and sing

[cibosity]

Pulling off a good con required the ability to care or dismiss about things at will. For about five minutes, Sawyer had managed to forget that Richard Alpert was a man who had not aged a day in the span of approximately fifty years, that the Others had significantly more knowledge of the land than he did, that there was still no explanation to be

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[gotanymilk]

The polar bear cage that once stood on Hydra Island was located approximately a mile east from where Benjamin Linus had set up shop, though he'd only discovered the proximity in location weeks after the fact. There were, it turned out, limits to amount of information even a man of his skill could procure on short notice, though he would never admit it to; no, like he once told John, he always had a plan, even when things looked particularly dire. Though seeing it for the first time had given him pause, he'd since grown accustomed to its presence, its familiar pointlessness one of many symbols of the life he'd left behind in siding with the Hostiles--the Others, as the survivors of Oceanic 815 had taken to calling his people.

Every so often, when the mask of Dr. Linus, history professor became too stifling, he would wander this way to remind himself of his true nature, the cage holding far more significance to him than the button Locke had once so blindly believed held his destiny. That it was closer to home, too, had made it convenient place to stop by with a packed lunch and a book, which was what he was doing that afternoon, a copy of Cujo begrudgingly tucked under his arm, since the shelf hadn't proven forthcoming with any author other than Stephen King that morning.; he might have taken that for a sign that the day was only bound to get worse.

The sounds of a distinctly familiar voice echoing through the jungle caused Ben to quicken his lazy pace, urging him forward through the trees with a haste he hardly appeared capable of. Not wanting to appear either out of breath nor out of sorts to greet his old acquaintance, however, he slowed down just before emerging into the clearing, his breathing already under control, though his mind was running a mile a minute.

"Well," he said in an impassive tone, approaching the cage with measured steps, "this is familiar. Hello, James."

[cibosity]

As soon as Sawyer could hear rustling in the distance, he held himself stock still, not even daring to breathe until the person made it through to the clearing. Upon recognizing said person's face, he swore bitterly- no specific expletive so much as a growl and some semblance of syllables spat through his teeth as he rolled his eyes, giving the bars one last hefty shake before he turned around to walk along the perimeter of the cage. If he wasn't getting out anytime soon, the very least he could do was keep the blood pumping through his veins to ward off pins and needles that came with stagnant circulation. He should have been thinking of some damned explanation for what was going on just then, but Sawyer found that he couldn't think through the haze of frustration that settled over him, red and thick, suppressed enough that all he managed was to kick away a significant pebble with his foot.

Not that he would have minded doing more. Ben Linus, with greater control over a situation than Sawyer had himself? Far from an ideal situation.

"Nice to see that I get a face-to-face visit, this time," Sawyer finally managed, stopping at the corner of the cage closest to Ben with a discerning look. "Now, you gonna break me out, or was all that time we spent together at the Barracks for nothin'?" His eyes watched the man closely for any slightest hint of a response, hoping against all hopes that he'd be able to read it. Any of it. For there was still the possibility, after all, that Ben Linus was not moving along the same skips of the record as the rest of the group, and that the man standing in front of Sawyer had no clue why or how the con man had showed up at all.

[gotanymilk]

"What's in it for me?" Ben asked, parroting the oft too familiar phrase back at the man who may as well have originated it. Still, there was something wry about the line of his small slash of a mouth, his large eyes held wide as he considered the situation before him. The remark about the Barracks was encouraging, at the very least, its implication being that most of the crash survivors had since moved on from seeing the so-called Others -- and, in particular, Ben -- as the source of all evil. It promised to make his job easier, if only just.

He glanced down at the rock Sawyer had dropped, then returned his attention upwards. "Other than nostalgia, of course, but we've already gone over that, haven't we, James?" he rattled off quickly, cataloging everything about the man's appearance and comparing it with his own memories; he didn't look any older. "Pardon me for saying this, but you don't seem particularly surprised to be here."

[cibosity]

Too many times, Sawyer found himself blurting out half-formed thoughts to Ben without being prompted at all, thoughts which the man quickly pieced together to form a more coherent line than Sawyer might have come up with on his own. Not wanting to give Ben that advantage, the blond forcibly kept his lips pressed tight and jaw clamped shut, not even letting himself move as he tried, once more, to be the one who read others. Ben had always been a slippery little devil as far as Sawyer's comprehension was concerned, pulling stunts that the Alabaman wouldn't have thought of in a million years, that no amount of time in high school or college could have gotten him to understand. But if there was one thing Sawyer could recognize, it was doubt, the sentiment that he had made a living out of erasing in others for so long.

Ben noted that Sawyer didn't seem particularly surprised to be where he was. To some extent, it was true- after all, how much more could one be taken off guard after leaping through time itself? But if Ben knew what he was doing to he island, did he really expect Sawyer to be so dim-witted as to not catch on at all?

Or was this version of Ben, in fact, from an earlier time, after the Barracks but before the skips?

"What's in it for you," Sawyer repeated with some level of wry amusement, exhaling heavily. "Well, maybe some of those answers you're fishin' for right now. I've got a long story to tell, Yoda, but I ain't gonna tell it until I've been let out for some real food and a blow dry."

[gotanymilk]

"I'm afraid you've arrived in the middle of a somewhat delicate situation," Ben said, which wasn't precisely true, though the lie served its purpose. He had his cover to think about, after all, and perhaps more importantly, Alex's. While he'd begun to wonder if his actions weren't rooted in simple paranoia, the scrapyard bombing had done away with such doubts. Complacent though the majority of Tabula Rasa's denizens might very well be, there were still dangerous people hidden amongst the population, like wolves in sheep's clothing.

"If I let you out, I'll need your word that you won't jeopardize my daughter's safety out of some vendetta against me."

As ever, his words were chosen with great care, the bargain crafted specifically to determine from when Sawyer might have arrived; that it took advantage of Alex's friendship was simply a smart tactical maneuver on his part.

"Do we have a deal?"

[cibosity]

Since when was the island ever not in the middle of a somewhat delicate situation, Sawyer was tempted to ask, although he settled instead for taking his sweet time once more, continuing to dangle his hands from the metal bar of the cage. Once given those precious few seconds, he was able to center on a few interesting points in the few sentences Ben provided. First, that it apparently didn't come as a surprise that Sawyer had arrived at all, a fact that made him suspect that Ben came from after he had started the process of hopscotching island- and that alone made Sawyer want to throw the man against the bars, ask if Ben had any idea what all of that did to Locke, that none of them had even seen the man after he went down that well. But the next part stole all the words out of his mouth, Ben wanting word that Sawyer wouldn't jeopardize his daughter's safety.

Was she alive? How? Had they skipped back to before Alex's death- and if they had, wasn't it impossible to change that series of events, a fact that twitchy Daniel Faraday had tried to explain on a few occasions- or, if they were somehow from after that time, had the girl been somehow revived? So perplexing was it all that Sawyer could only offer a slow, purposeful nod.

"Oh, I ain't the one who'd ever put your daughter's safety in question," he breathed, grabbing the bars again. "So yeah, I think we've got ourselves a deal. Spring me out, Boss, and you can tell me all about this 'somewhat delicate situation' of yours."

[gotanymilk]

Though Ben noted Sawyer's reaction with some interest, he couldn't be entirely certain what, exactly, it implied; it was too vague of a response, and only so much information could be gained from reading body language and facial expressions. He frowned, briefly, and considered the benefits of leaving the man in his cage to rot; the cons, in this case, outweighed the pros.

"Alright," he said after all of a second's pause, bending down in one jerky movement to retrieve the rock Sawyer had dropped before. Then, needing full use of both hands, he tucked the copy of Cujo into the outer pocket of his messenger bag, taking the opportunity to turn his body away from the cage so that he might make sure his favored baton was still within reach, using the pretense of the book in a classic misdirection; he wasn't about to take any chances. Satisfied, Ben proceeded to hit the lock twice in rapid succession; it fell to the ground just as he aimed for a third. "After you."

[cibosity]

Oh, this was good. In all honesty, Sawyer hadn't been certain whether or not he was getting sprung out of the cage at all- Benjamin Linus didn't exactly have a great track record when it came to keeping to his word, perhaps one of the few people considered less trustworthy than Sawyer himself was. But when the rock started pounding down with so little protest, Sawyer could do little other than stare in faint appraisal, lifting a pleased brow. But any relief that he felt at being released from the cage was muted, cognizant of the fact that Ben was no longer the enemy, and if anything was someone whose welfare Sawyer probably wanted to look after. Better the devils one knew.

"Don't mind if I do," he murmured with a nod, before quickly striding out, immediately heaving a deep breath as he peered over his shoulder at the cage that he hoped, this time, he'd put behind him for good. Afterward, he peeked at Ben, who looked every bit as calm as ever, eyes wide in the way that always had Sawyer's hair standing on end. "And now that I'm free of the cage once again, mind tellin' me what the hell's goin' on here? I don't even remember makin' it to the damned second island."

[gotanymilk]

"You're not on the second island," said Ben with a slight shake of his head. Closing the door of the cage shut behind Sawyer, the clang of metal against metal reverberating throughout the otherwise quiet jungle, he started back west; any thoughts of a quiet lunch were dismissed. Without so much as glance behind to check if he was being followed, he darted back into the trees from whence he came. "Or the main one, for that matter, but I'll get to that in a moment. What's the last thing you remember?"

[cibosity]

For a man so small and seemingly calm, Ben certainly got his move on quickly enough, to the point where Sawyer went quiet for a bit- save the grumbles and hissed curses whenever a particularly sharp branch dragged against his leg. Once they were well surrounded by brush, the haste dug deeply enough under Sawyer's skin that he had to rush on ahead to look back at Ben, brows narrowed. The temptation to just keep his damned mouth shut was great, but then again, one of the people Sawyer least wanted to be on the bad side of was Benjamin Linus.

"I was... talkin' with Horace," he muttered, dragging fingers through his hair, shoulders slumped at the memory. "Back in nineteen friggin' seventy-four. Your little trick had us hoppin' and leapin' through time."

[gotanymilk]

Benjamin Linus had known his Island to do many wondrous things. It was, in the words of John Locke, a place where miracles happened, and the assessment was one that Ben agreed with wholeheartedly. While Tabula Rasa might be flashier, with its free strip clubs and Ferris wheels and reanimating the dead, his Island could cure the sick, play home to a smoke monster, and move throughout the world. That it could apparently move throughout time was enough to give him pause, however, and he stopped abruptly in the middle of the path, just short of hitting Sawyer head on.

"I beg your pardon?"

[cibosity]

Sawyer started as he found himself close enough to run Ben Linus over entirely, losing his balance as he tilted back and staggering some distance away. "Watch where you're goin'!" he exclaimed irritably, waving his arms in frustration as he staggered to keep from falling, stepping to the side of the path instead. "Or at least holler a warnin' before you lose all motor function, Reeve."

Sighing as his temper abated, leaving him regretting his outburst, regretting telling Ben any of it at all, Sawyer took a mixture of comfort and apprehension at the knowledge that even Ben Linus hadn't expected to send them hopping through time. It was nice, knowing that Ben Linus wasn't sitting at the top of everything, watching down with wide eyes from that pedestal.

But Sawyer never liked the fact that he always seemed to know so little about who stood above Ben.

"What, Jacob ain't never given you the 4-1-1 'bout what you were goin' to do?" Sawyer breathed, rolling his eyes before forging on straight ahead.

[gotanymilk]

"He's not the sort of man you ask why to, James," said Ben, irritation slipping into his voice. Jacob was someone he'd refused to discuss since arriving on the shore of Tabula Rasa, and fortunately for Ben, there had been, up until that moment, no one save Alex to force the subject. That was obviously not the case any longer; a tension settled into his shoulders, making him stand straighter, more military in his bearing, though he'd never once served.

"I was told all that was necessary for me to keep the Island safe. Forgive me for not having the time to ask questions about what, exactly, that all entailed."

[cibosity]

"Yeah, yeah," Sawyer waved the other man off, figuring that it couldn't hurt to just keep to the trail both of them were walking on anyway, forging on ahead before he had to deal with more of Ben's excuses. Not that Sawyer wasn't full of his own bullshit even on the best of days, but there was something in particular that both Ben and John Locke shared which Sawyer could never get behind. The belief that the island, or Jacob, or whoever else would have things work out in the end. Already normally the sort of man who kept to his own devices, Sawyer didn't see how anyone could trust in the words or actions of a force that they could hardly ever see, and even when they did, didn't seem to have a lick of reason behind it.

"You and Locke, always with keepin' the Island safe," he muttered, shaking his head from side to side now and again to try and keep the hair from sticking on his face. "Think the Island's done a damn good job of that itself, if you ask me. Between the smoke monster and its disappearin' acts."