Keep the porch light on, for alliecat8
Title: Keep the Porch Light On
Author: gottalovev
Recipient: alliecat8
Pairing and/or Characters: Sawyer/Juliet
Rating: G
Warnings: None necessary.
Prompt: Sawyer/Juliet and what happened after they left the church.
Summary: Should they feel at peace, now?
Author notes: This is short but heartfelt, and I can only hope you like it Allie. Merry Christmas! Much thanks to the mods for a fabulous job and to my betas to be named later who were very supportive ♥.
It's a bit surreal, to say the least.
James wonders if he should feel at peace now that Jack - it always has to be Jack - has brought them all together. It figures that the stubborn son of a bitch was the last to show up to his own funeral - if that's what had happened, James was not quite sure. Then Jack's drunk of a father plays shepherd for them all, literally, when he walks towards the shiny light.
He doesn't know what's in the light just yet. Only a few followed immediately: Sun and Jin, Hurley and Libby, Sayid and Shannon.
But what James does know is that he feels somewhat schizophrenic with the souvenirs of two separate lives. It doesn't help that he's been the two sides of the same coin as a career criminal and law enforcement officer. The images of before, of the Island or what James supposes was the real deal, are just that much brighter when put in contrast to the life he'd woken up in the morning. But that doesn't erase the rest, that doesn't make what he felt and experienced as James Ford, detective for the LAPD, any less important.
And if there's something James has learned in a minimum of two lifetimes it's that he must not trust what he sees. The shiny light might be tempting, but he's not ready yet and Juliet doesn't seem in a hurry, either. Their reunion near the vending machine has been a shock to the system, making James' throat close and his heart sink before it soared again. He has missed her so much.
The ones that didn't walk after Sheppard Senior shared anecdotes for hours, comparing lives and expanding on the previous one; they could not really part ways just now. But eventually, once they are out of the church, it's an all new ball game. Or, more to the point, nothing changes at all: they are back in the lives they had the morning before. This reality shows them what they were meant to be, is a test drive for a new life, a better place. It's not quite Heaven because your daddy doesn't shoot your mamma when you're in Paradise, but a it's nice buffer. What they do with it from now on is their choice.
Juliet has her arm linked around his, hanging on, and James doesn't want it any other way. They'd been separated so cruelly, he's not about to let her go anytime soon.
"What now, Blondie?" he ask. "Are we supposed to blow this popsicle joint or what?"
She grins at that and James's heart squeezes once more. After getting off the Island he'd thought of this very smile almost every day for nearly 20 years, though it had been a little blurry in the end. It brings back memories of his own death.
"Do you know how I kicked the bucket, in that other life?" he asks, because it's not a little ironic.
"No," she says, curious.
"A plane crash. I kid you not."
You've got to be shitting me had been his last thought. It makes him snigger and Juliet laughs out loud.
***
James drives Juliet to her big house in the suburbs. They stay seated for a little bit in the car when he kills the engine and she looks nervous and insecure. He's rarely seen her this way, even when their cover was shaky in the first weeks at Dharma Village. No, she's never been fragile. On the contrary, she's always been the calm one, the rock.
"And what if he disappeared?" she says, voice so soft he barely can hear her. "I'm not sure I could take it."
'He' being her son; Juliet has a kid. With Jack. It's huge and James can barely wrap his mind around it. But it's none of his business because if that's how their life panned out this time, who is he to judge. He surely doesn't have a daughter this time around, things change. And Jack and Juliet didn't work out, after all; James' not that surprised about it.
"I'll go with you," James says, opening his door.
As they enter the house a dark haired boy with blue eyes runs down the stairs, scowling but a little wild eyed anyway.
"Mom? Where were you, I looked everywhere!" he asks, visibly upset.
The relief in Juliet at seeing her son is palpable and she grabs him in a tight hug.
"Oh, thank god," she says. "It's okay, I'm here now."
David's blue eyes detail James even as he's being smothered, the clear gaze of a boy who's evaluating the new man in his mom's life and probably finds James not up to his standards.
"And who is he?" he says, suspicious.
Juliet laughs.
"He's my good friend James," she says, finally letting David go.
"Hi David," James says, trying his most laid-back smile.
"Hey," David says, seemingly not impressed. He then turns to his mother, dismissing him. "Are we going to eat soon?"
James can't help but smile as he realizes that David Sheppard seems just as pig headed and self-righteous as his father. He can work with that.
***
His cell phones rings as James is smoking on the patio after brunch. The display announces Miles and he can't fight the smile. Good old Miles.
"Hey."
"Oh, look at that, he answers his phone!" Miles snarks. "What the fuck, man, I called all morning!"
"I sort of got that from the missed calls log, partner," James says. Nine missed calls. The bugger was persistent. "Sorry you were worried, but some seriously weird shit happened since yesterday."
"How weird is weird?" Miles asks. "And why didn't you call me back, asshole?"
"I was just about to," James lies easily. He was, eventually. Time doesn't have the same consistence for him, now. "I need to see you, too, tell you all about it."
James wants to make Miles remember, he owes him that. He thinks the touching thing should work on him. Miles has always been more perceptive than most.
"What, you can't do that on the phone?" Miles says, sounding aggravated.
"Not really, no. I'd go to you, but it would be easier to explain if you came here," James says.
"Your place?" Miles ask.
"No." James gives him Juliet's address instead. "Got that?"
"Got it. Give me an hour or so, I have shit to finish here."
"Fine, see you later," James says and hangs up.
The patio door opens and Juliet steps out, a glass of red wine in hand.
"Who was that?" Juliet asks.
"Miles," James says, gesturing her to come over. "He's my partner."
A perfect eyebrow arches at that and James rolls his eyes.
"Not my boyfriend, my partner. I told you I was... well that I'm a cop," he explains.
She looks mildly surprised.
"Oh. That's great. You two were pretty close on the Island," she says. "I'm glad you had each other here, too."
James is too. Miles has been his closest friend, in both lifetimes. It makes James wonder why the fuck he wasn't in that church. True, he had never been much of anything for Jack, who once again was the center of the storm.
"Do you think we should have gone into the light?" James asks.
Juliet come and sits by him on the stairs, locking into place like a puzzle piece when she molds herself to his side.
"I think we weren't ready for that, yet. Well, I wasn't," Juliet says. "Did you want to go?"
James shrugs.
"I don't know. I'm not sure of anything."
"What about we learn to know each other again?" Juliet says.
James stubs out his cigarette, then tilts Juliet's face up to look in her eyes. She's so beautiful. He had never forgotten that particular shade of blue her eyes turn to when she's happy.
"We can do that," he says, caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. "We can do anything you want."
Juliet smiles and it's like that bright light again, the one of the church, but this time it's for him and him alone.
He's home.
The End
Author: gottalovev
Recipient: alliecat8
Pairing and/or Characters: Sawyer/Juliet
Rating: G
Warnings: None necessary.
Prompt: Sawyer/Juliet and what happened after they left the church.
Summary: Should they feel at peace, now?
Author notes: This is short but heartfelt, and I can only hope you like it Allie. Merry Christmas! Much thanks to the mods for a fabulous job and to my betas to be named later who were very supportive ♥.
It's a bit surreal, to say the least.
James wonders if he should feel at peace now that Jack - it always has to be Jack - has brought them all together. It figures that the stubborn son of a bitch was the last to show up to his own funeral - if that's what had happened, James was not quite sure. Then Jack's drunk of a father plays shepherd for them all, literally, when he walks towards the shiny light.
He doesn't know what's in the light just yet. Only a few followed immediately: Sun and Jin, Hurley and Libby, Sayid and Shannon.
But what James does know is that he feels somewhat schizophrenic with the souvenirs of two separate lives. It doesn't help that he's been the two sides of the same coin as a career criminal and law enforcement officer. The images of before, of the Island or what James supposes was the real deal, are just that much brighter when put in contrast to the life he'd woken up in the morning. But that doesn't erase the rest, that doesn't make what he felt and experienced as James Ford, detective for the LAPD, any less important.
And if there's something James has learned in a minimum of two lifetimes it's that he must not trust what he sees. The shiny light might be tempting, but he's not ready yet and Juliet doesn't seem in a hurry, either. Their reunion near the vending machine has been a shock to the system, making James' throat close and his heart sink before it soared again. He has missed her so much.
The ones that didn't walk after Sheppard Senior shared anecdotes for hours, comparing lives and expanding on the previous one; they could not really part ways just now. But eventually, once they are out of the church, it's an all new ball game. Or, more to the point, nothing changes at all: they are back in the lives they had the morning before. This reality shows them what they were meant to be, is a test drive for a new life, a better place. It's not quite Heaven because your daddy doesn't shoot your mamma when you're in Paradise, but a it's nice buffer. What they do with it from now on is their choice.
Juliet has her arm linked around his, hanging on, and James doesn't want it any other way. They'd been separated so cruelly, he's not about to let her go anytime soon.
"What now, Blondie?" he ask. "Are we supposed to blow this popsicle joint or what?"
She grins at that and James's heart squeezes once more. After getting off the Island he'd thought of this very smile almost every day for nearly 20 years, though it had been a little blurry in the end. It brings back memories of his own death.
"Do you know how I kicked the bucket, in that other life?" he asks, because it's not a little ironic.
"No," she says, curious.
"A plane crash. I kid you not."
You've got to be shitting me had been his last thought. It makes him snigger and Juliet laughs out loud.
***
James drives Juliet to her big house in the suburbs. They stay seated for a little bit in the car when he kills the engine and she looks nervous and insecure. He's rarely seen her this way, even when their cover was shaky in the first weeks at Dharma Village. No, she's never been fragile. On the contrary, she's always been the calm one, the rock.
"And what if he disappeared?" she says, voice so soft he barely can hear her. "I'm not sure I could take it."
'He' being her son; Juliet has a kid. With Jack. It's huge and James can barely wrap his mind around it. But it's none of his business because if that's how their life panned out this time, who is he to judge. He surely doesn't have a daughter this time around, things change. And Jack and Juliet didn't work out, after all; James' not that surprised about it.
"I'll go with you," James says, opening his door.
As they enter the house a dark haired boy with blue eyes runs down the stairs, scowling but a little wild eyed anyway.
"Mom? Where were you, I looked everywhere!" he asks, visibly upset.
The relief in Juliet at seeing her son is palpable and she grabs him in a tight hug.
"Oh, thank god," she says. "It's okay, I'm here now."
David's blue eyes detail James even as he's being smothered, the clear gaze of a boy who's evaluating the new man in his mom's life and probably finds James not up to his standards.
"And who is he?" he says, suspicious.
Juliet laughs.
"He's my good friend James," she says, finally letting David go.
"Hi David," James says, trying his most laid-back smile.
"Hey," David says, seemingly not impressed. He then turns to his mother, dismissing him. "Are we going to eat soon?"
James can't help but smile as he realizes that David Sheppard seems just as pig headed and self-righteous as his father. He can work with that.
***
His cell phones rings as James is smoking on the patio after brunch. The display announces Miles and he can't fight the smile. Good old Miles.
"Hey."
"Oh, look at that, he answers his phone!" Miles snarks. "What the fuck, man, I called all morning!"
"I sort of got that from the missed calls log, partner," James says. Nine missed calls. The bugger was persistent. "Sorry you were worried, but some seriously weird shit happened since yesterday."
"How weird is weird?" Miles asks. "And why didn't you call me back, asshole?"
"I was just about to," James lies easily. He was, eventually. Time doesn't have the same consistence for him, now. "I need to see you, too, tell you all about it."
James wants to make Miles remember, he owes him that. He thinks the touching thing should work on him. Miles has always been more perceptive than most.
"What, you can't do that on the phone?" Miles says, sounding aggravated.
"Not really, no. I'd go to you, but it would be easier to explain if you came here," James says.
"Your place?" Miles ask.
"No." James gives him Juliet's address instead. "Got that?"
"Got it. Give me an hour or so, I have shit to finish here."
"Fine, see you later," James says and hangs up.
The patio door opens and Juliet steps out, a glass of red wine in hand.
"Who was that?" Juliet asks.
"Miles," James says, gesturing her to come over. "He's my partner."
A perfect eyebrow arches at that and James rolls his eyes.
"Not my boyfriend, my partner. I told you I was... well that I'm a cop," he explains.
She looks mildly surprised.
"Oh. That's great. You two were pretty close on the Island," she says. "I'm glad you had each other here, too."
James is too. Miles has been his closest friend, in both lifetimes. It makes James wonder why the fuck he wasn't in that church. True, he had never been much of anything for Jack, who once again was the center of the storm.
"Do you think we should have gone into the light?" James asks.
Juliet come and sits by him on the stairs, locking into place like a puzzle piece when she molds herself to his side.
"I think we weren't ready for that, yet. Well, I wasn't," Juliet says. "Did you want to go?"
James shrugs.
"I don't know. I'm not sure of anything."
"What about we learn to know each other again?" Juliet says.
James stubs out his cigarette, then tilts Juliet's face up to look in her eyes. She's so beautiful. He had never forgotten that particular shade of blue her eyes turn to when she's happy.
"We can do that," he says, caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. "We can do anything you want."
Juliet smiles and it's like that bright light again, the one of the church, but this time it's for him and him alone.
He's home.
The End