St. Sebastian's Miracle Workers {Juliet}

[Richard Alpert]

Richard silently walked through the halls of Saint Sebastian's, his visitor badge pinned tightly to his suit jacket. He weaved his way through the hallways towards the OBGYN/LABOUR AND DELIVERY wing. He stopped at the large window, peering at all the babies in the room behind the glass. Some crying, some sleeping soundly...yet all of them, alive and perfectly healthy. Such a strange thing to see, and he had to remind himself that off the Island, babies survived. Mothers were happy.

"Which one is yours?

The voice made Richard's head turn to a smiling older woman who looked completely and utterly tired. He figured she was the mother of a woman who had just given birth. He smiled politely back at her. "None of them, actually. I never had the joy of having children and now I think I'm just too old."

"Too old? My goodness," The woman scoffed slightly, shaking her head before she moved, placing an hand on his arm. "you look like you could be my son's age."

"You'd be surprised. I'm older than I look."

The woman laughed slightly again and shook her head before she moved, tapping a finger twice on the glass, pointing at a small baby that was sleeping. "That one over there. That's my granddaughter. Isn't she beautiful?"

Richard's gaze shifted from the woman, to the small child. "Very. Congradulations, I'm very happy for you."

"Doctor Burke has done so many miracles for this hospital."

"Has she now?"

"Yes. My other daughter--Doctor Burke said that the possibility of her being able to bare children is not lost. Every other doctor she's gone to--they're saying that there's no hope. But Doctor Burke...she's given her hope."

"It sounds like Doctor Burke is a very special woman."

"My name's Melissa."

"Richard." Richard said, holding out his hand before gently shaking the womans. "Tell me, Melissa. Have you see Doctor Burke around here?"

"Her office is down the hallway and to the right."

"Thank you, Melissa." Richard said, and started to walk towards Juliet's office, however, the older woman's voice made him pause in his steps.

"You're never too old for a child."

Richard found himself smirking at the woman's words even though she couldn't see them. "You would be completely surprised." Richard said under his breath, before he came upon Juliet's door. It was cracked open, and he felt himself smile only slightly. The memory of when he had first met Juliet for Ben, to try to get Juliet's expertese for the Island crossed his mind, moreso when Juliet's ex-husband had mysteriously ended up dead. Well, Richard thought silently, she had wished for it. Be careful what you wish for, Richard thought silently before he pushed open the door silently, watching as Juliet failed to look up. For a brief second, he merely stood and stared, a half smile on his face, until he refused to wait any longer.

"Hello, Juliet."

[juliet]

Juliet leaned forward at her desk. Her chin rested only slightly in the crook of her hand. One long forefinger played upon her lips, as she studied the dna chart in front of her. Blue eyes reading each line as if it were a book, the pages telling the doctor a long sorted history about the patient before her.

She had not been back very long, and already Juliet was getting a name for herself. Juliet could find the little kinks in a woman's body that would not let her carry a child to full term. They were there, somewhere. Some even seemed so simple, after everything she had studied on the island. Now, Juliet was dealing with live births, actual births of any kind were perfect in Juliet's head. However, the lives that she brought into the world could not make up for the fact that her sister's cancer was returning. She just had to trust Jack, and put a little more faith in medicine. At least, that was what she kept trying to tell herself.

The sound of her name startled Juliet, pulling her from her deep thoughts about the patient 'in front of her'. She turned quickly, seeing a face that was so familiar. A fractured smile flashed for a moment upon her lips. While it was good to see an old friend, for she had so few, Juliet wasn't sure if she should be happy to see this one. She stood up, her body movement seeming a little anxious. Richard had been Ben's right hand. What did he want now? She wasn't sure, but it all traced back to the Island and Benjamin Linus.

"Hi...Hi, Richard," she walked around her desk, hips tilting to the side in an attempt to barely miss the corners of her desk. Juliet fought to keep her smile on her lips. She knew she should have asked him how he was doing, said it was nice to see him. But, there was always a reason that Richard showed up, and she wanted to know. "What brings you here?"

[Richard Alpert]

Richard let a thin smile cross his lips as Juliet spoke to him, saying hello to him. Juliet shifted, and Richard took her in, watching as she anxiously stood up. The smile widened only slightly as she asked him what brought him here. "What do you think brought me here, Juliet?" Richard asked honestly, stepping around her to look at the ultrasound images that were on her wall. His eyes idly scanned them, half interested and half not at the photographs on the wall. "I saw Shephard leaving." he commented almost idly, glancing back at her. "It seems like there's been more effect to leaving the Island than you all think."

Richard turned his head back to the photographs of various women at various stages of conception. Well, she was doing what she wished she could have done on the Island. What he had told her she could do.

Richard had easily found out about her sister; he had visited the woman when Juliet had been at work. It was so easy it was almost frightening how people trusted Richard, he thought for a moment. How at the pure mention of Doctor and the words 'I know your sister from work and I'm a specialist on Oncology' could easily get anyone into believing any sort of hope. The human nature, so gullible.

"I know about your sister, Juliet." he said, letting the statement hang. "Did Shephard try to tell you that it was all up to medicine? Did he try to comfort you and say that he'll get the best doctors in the country to try to save your sister's life?" he asked evenly, before turning to Juliet fully, leaning slightly on her desk. "You know just as well as I do that leaving that Island was a mistake, Juliet. A mistake that He will not forget easily, and a mistake that they all foolishly made, thinking that this was the best for them." Richard tilted his head slightly. "How is Doctor Shephard these days, Juliet? You always did seem to have an eye for him."

[juliet]

She frowned at his question. Juliet had an idea what brought him to her. She just didn't want to admit it. She was trying to believe in Jack, believe in what he said about the island and it's powes being a hoax. The blonde watched as Richard looked over the ultrasounds on the wall. Her blue eyes flickering back to him, nervous. Although, he had never been mean or cruel to her, Richard signaled the beginning of a life filled with tragedy and death. He had come to her to bring her to the island, yes his words had been full of deceit. Richard had manipulated her, bringing her to a world where she really thought she could do some good. Juliet had no idea that world was somewhere on an island that no one knew about.

When he began to talk about her sister, Juliet felt a bit defensive, protective. "Wait...you've been seeing my sister?" She lifted up her hand, shaking a finger at him. Her jaw clenched, for now she felt angry. No one messed with Rachel or Julian, they were all she had. "I don't want you anywhere near her, Richard. Do you understand?"

Her hand trembled, falling slightly as he continued. Richard's words began to fuel her first fears. And no matter how much she wanted to fight and believe that Jack was right. There was a part of her that knew Richard was right. That the island was claiming it's debt, the one Ben had told her about. Her azure eyes began to glisten and she shook her head. Juliet held her palm up, waving her hand lightly, closing her eyes as she tried to register her thoughts, "Stop...please."

She opened her eyes back up, almost glaring as he asked about Jack. Juliet knew he was pushing her buttons, and that she loved Jack dearly. But, she also knew Richard would know Jack still loved Kate, "Jack is fine, Richard. As for my sister...she needs me. And I want to be here for her. We will find a doctor who can save her...I know it."

[Richard Alpert]

As Juliet's words got harsh, when she spoke of him seeing her sister, Richard turned his head, looking at her from where he leaned on the desk. "Of course I have." Richard said as if it was the most obveious thing in the world. As she lifted a finger, Richard glanced at the finger, before looking at Juliet's face. "I didn't hurt her if that's what you're implying. I just checked up on her. Talked with her. He wanted me to. It's amazing what people will tell you when you tell them you're a Doctor."

Juliet's eyes began to shine with the sharp hint of tears, and Richard blinked, tilting his head slightly. He wanted to tell her it was useless, that all he was saying to her, she knew it was true. However, Juliet's eyes closed, and Richard knew it would be redudant. At the moment, at least. He lifted a pen up, looking at it almost idly until Juliet spoke again, about Shephard and about her sister. "Oh, of course he's fine. He looks like a strung-out drug addict, but yeah, that's normal behaviour." Richard said simply. Maybe that was Jacob's plan all alone, Richard wasn't sure...because Jack hadn't been on the List, which had been slightly surprising to Richard, however, who was he to argue? As Juliet spoke of her sister, about how Rachel needed Juliet and how she wanted to stay and be here for her, Richard found his lips spreading into a thin smile.

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Richard asked after a moment, amused by her answer. "You don't want to be here because you know that if you're here and not on the Island, your sister will die. But if you leave, she may in fact die anyway and there's nothing you can do about it." Richard told her surely, the slight smile still on his face. "Am I getting warm?"

Richard pushed himself off of the desk, and moved to walk around the spacious office, glancing at all the pictures on the wall. "Jack Shephard is setting himself up to crash and burn. It's almost amusing to watch. If you think that he could swoop in and be some sort of dark, troubled knight in shining armor and save you and all your problems, you better look harder. His metal's not as polished as it used to be."

Richard let the smile drop from his face, as he turned to look at Juliet fully. "I spoke to Jacob before I left. He told me about your sister, to go look at her. You know the truth, Juliet; no doctor will be able to fix what Jacob can. So stop tricking yourself into believing that you'll find the miracle doctor. Or Shephard will stay sober long enough to come up with some heroic conclusion to your sister's plight."

[juliet]

She felt so vulnerable now. It didn't matter how much she wanted to protect and shield Rachel and Julian from the island and those involved in it, they could still get to them. They had when she was on the island, observing and keeping in check everything that was happening to her sister. They monitored her health, that she had been able to have the child that Juliet had helped begin. Why she thought they would not do that now, she wasn't sure. Juliet had just hoped it would all go away, that they would leave her alone and her life would be simple. Of course now, she realized it would never be simple again.

"I just....I want her safe, them safe and healthy, Richard." She clenched her fingers together tightly into a fist, trying to regain some sort of power in the situation. Then released her her fingers, realizing she had nothing of the sort. "Please."

When he went off about Jack's condition, Juliet lowered her eyes and shifted them away from him. Jack was a mess, one large male of broken and shot nerves. His life had become fractured, and Juliet wanted desperatly to help him put it back together. Only, he didn't want her that way. And it broke her heart to do so. It was up to Kate, but did she even really want Jack? Juliet didn't know, she hadn't seen the freckled brunette since Juliet had come back to the states, "He is under a lot of stress." It was a lie, and she knew it. Juliet had become an awful good liar since becoming a part of the island.

"Your warm," she practically growled the answer. The weakness of her situation so bluntly put forth in front of her. Juliet was powerless to help her sister, or to help Jack. She was beginning to feel like Ben's puppet again, only crumpled up on the emotional floor. There was a hint of her strings being pulled, attempting to bring her back to his fold, and she hated it.

With the mention of Jacob, Juliet's azure hues lifted back to Richard. Had he really come through those years she was one the island. Her sister's cancer had gone into remission, her son was born. Her life and health seemed so perfect.....without Juliet. Tears began to glisten in her eyes, as she lifted up a fragile hand to her temple to press the pad of her hand against it. She was stuck, confused. If she believed in Jacob and Ben again, would they really save Rachel? She wasn't progressing very well with getting her back into remission, neither was Jack.

"What does he want...Jacob?" Her blue eyes sparkled with the hint of tears, still lacing her eyelashes, but her brow furrowed with the building anger of being used again, "What does he want? And if I do it...will he save her, save Rachel?"

[Richard Alpert]

"I just want them safe and healthy, Richard. Please."

Richarrd looked at Juliet, arching an eyebrow slightly. She was two seconds and two feet away from being down on her knees, begging Richard to do whatever was possible to save her sister's life. He noticed her hands, clenching hard, creating little moon-shapes on her calm from her nails. "Partly, I've a mind to say that you dug your own grave when you decided to help Shephard and his survivor friends get off the Island. Dug hers as well. What I don’t understand is your reasoning. Why him? Why Jack Shephard? Everything he touches withers away right before his eyes. I’m surprised he actually managed to lead his group for as long as he did.” He commented almost offhandedly. He looked at Juliet with a slight amused smirk. “Or are you simply that blindly in love with him that you’d follow him off the edge of a cliff?”

Yes, that was it. She was in love with him. Perhaps it had been so long that he had forgotten, but he didn’t understand the attraction. Shephard was emotionally damaged, that was easy to see. It made Richard wonder about Juliet herself. Was she just as damaged as Shephard was? The death of her ex-husband had hit her, Richard had been there, he had seen it all. And yet, Juliet usually carried herself with some semblance of grace, and yet, as he watched her, listening as she spoke about her sister, about her dying, he watched as the grace fell, cracked right in front of his eyes. It was almost beautifully tragic in a way to watch. Human emotions were so vast. And when and if Rachel died, Juliet’s world would crumble. In some small part, some way, Richard wanted to see it.

However, Richard knew that it wasn't that simple. Rachel...she wouldn't die. Not just yet. It would be painful, it would be drawn out, if only, Richard figured, to make Juliet suffer. To make her learn. Juliet spoke of Jack, lying straight through her teeth and saying that he was under alot of 'stress'. "Oh, of course he is." Richard said, nodding slightly. "It takes alot out of a person to slowly go insane, I’ve come to find. It’s an exhausting process, but it looks like Shephard’s halfway there, so it shouldn’t go on much longer, I don’t think. However, the booze and the pills that he's knocking back every hour don't really help. And he calls himself a doctor? Tell me, Juliet, say he does leave Austen. Say he comes running into your arms and you decide that you have the glue to put him back together. What makes you so sure you're going to like the finished product? No matter how much you try, he's always going to have the cracks. The Island, it changes people, no matter how heroic or perfect or wonderful you were when you came onto the Island. Jack wasn’t exactly perfect when he crashed, was he? He was...well, he wasn't on Jacob's list. That says alot about him."

At the mention of Jacob's name, Richard watched as Juliet's head quickly snapped up. He could see the hint of tears, saw the frustration on her face, and whether or not he liked to admit it...he had picked right when he had found her. She was determined, stubborn, and yet so willing to do 'what was right'. Those three words hardly held meaning to Richard anymore. Richard didn't do what was right; he did what he was told.

"I can't begin to speak for Jacob, you know that. I wouldn't dare. However, I can tell you this; those three years that you were on the Island, your sister got better. She was healthy, she was happy, and she believed that you had gone onto a better place, whether it be heaven or the reality, a tropical island in the middle of nowhere. All of this happened beacuse Jacob wanted it to." He paused, and then spoke once more. "And when you left, your sisters cancer spread like wild-fire. I can't say that she'll get better, Juliet, because I know that Jacob is not forgiving. However, you go back to the Island, and there is a good chance that your sister could have a healthy and happy life with her son. The only downfall...is that you would have to leave her once again."

Richard felt a slight shrug cross his shoulders. "Now, I don't know whether or not your sister would live were you to get back on the Island. However, I’ve been in Jacob’s company for a long while, Juliet, and I know one thing; he’s a man of his word, and if you go back, I will try with all my power to convince him to help your sister. Once he agrees to it, he’ll follow through. You have my word on that.”

[juliet]

Her lips winced, tugged tight in a thin line when he said she had dug her own grave. Her brow furrowed, as he seemed to try and implant the idea in her head that everything she had done was leading to her sister's death, and her own demise. Her gaze flinched, eyes shifting away for a moment and then back. His questions seeming so odd to her ears, when the answers seemed so simple, "Because Jack accepted me, just the way I am. He never questioned me, no matter how many times I did horrible things to him and his friends. Or how many times I lied, because I was doing things that Ben told me to. Jack was still there."

"And he...he made me feel again," Juliet paused, remembering his smile and their little talks about nothing. Times whe Jack made her smile and laugh. She had lost that. Lost that so quickly when Goodwin was killed. She had lost hope, and had begun to fall into the line that Ben wanted her to. To do everything against her own judgement, because she needed to save Rachel.

"He actually cared about me. Not that I was some woman who looked like another from a picture. Or that I seemed right by a numbers and educational background to be his partner." She drew her teeth against her bottom lip for a moment, edges of her lips flickering upward in an attempt to almost smile as she remembered his gentle touch and the times they kissed. Yes, the last one had made her question him. But, it was still sweet, and had been the last one to touch her lips.

"That's not a fare question, Richard. Besides, you and I know he is hopelessly in love with Kate. She's a sweet girl, so I am not surprised," Juliet spoke with a little distance in her voice. She wanted Jack happy, and had hoped that by 'letting him go' that he would be that way with Kate. Somehow, things were not working out that way for him. He was a mess, but she wasn't willing to admit that in words to Richard. Juliet would hold Jack up through it all, hold his name up to even those who knew better. "No one is perfect. I told you when I first met you, that even I was mess."

With Jack, she had felt safe and whole. Juliet wouldn't give up their moments together, they were all she had of him. There was no question in her mind that she would love him and follow him to the end of the world if he asked her to. But, that wasn't going to happen. She had told herself that over and over again. He wasn't her's, no one was. She just had Rachel and Julian, but for how long? "I'm not going to answer that question. It is a mute point. Jack loves Kate, so there is no reason to think about things like that. But, I will help him, if he ever asks me to.'

She really hated 'Jacob's list'. She had heard about it over and over. However, the tall blonde knew it seemed to mean everything to Richard and Ben. Like some supreme order of those who were needed to survive and make the island the perfect Utopia. Although, it was not. It was far from it, an almost hell. Jack had made it different. Now, he seemed to be paying the price for it.

"Why can't I take her back, Richard? She wouldn't hurt anyone. And she has Julian. Ben always wants children on the island, and Julian is beautiful," God, was she really saying this? Maybe she was losing it now. But, in Juliet's head she could see this as the only way to save them and to have them with her. "She is a brilliant and good woman. She could help me with my research. Can't you ask Jacob to let them come with me? They are all I have, I need them."

[Richard Alpert]

"And he made me feel again..."

"That's all incrediably sweet," Richard began, looking from a picture on the wall to Juliet. "But do you mean to tell me that you truely think that after everything he'll come running back into your arrms? It looks to me now like the only way he'd be running into anyone's arms is if they had a bottle of scotch in their hands. And even then...it's a toss up." When Juliet spoke of Kate, Richard let his lips spread wider into a smile. "Ah yes. The murderer. Well, yeah, let's face it. Those two crazy kids are meant for each other. One murderers and shatters everything around her, and the other tries to clean up the peices." He looked to Juliet with a slight smile. "And then there's you."

When Juliet asked about Rachel, why she couldn't go to the Island, Richard felt his eyes close in something almost resembling pity. But the truth was, he didn't care about Rachel or Julian. "Julian would die if he came onto the Island." And he knew that somehow that was the truth. Jacob would get wind of it...and nothing would be the same. "He wouldn't survive the travel, I can tell you that right now. Alex barely made it off the Island, sending someone as young as him back...it wouldn't work. I'm sorry."

"She could help me with my research. Can't you ask Jacob to let them come with me? They're all I have. I need them."

Richard actually smiled at her words, an ironic smile that twitched at the corners of his mouth. "You're not serious, are you? You spent years on the Island, researching and working completely fine, free of your sister and her problems. And you're telling me that if they got on the Island with you, you'd work better? They would be a distraction to you. You wouldn't get work done because you would be too busy worrying about your sister and her child. You don't need them, Juliet. You think you need them, just like you think that all that time you were gone, your sister needed you. But it's like the video I shot of your sister; in the end...you were better off without them, and they were perfectly fine without you. Sooner or later, Juliet, you'll realise that you belonged on that Island. I wouldn't have chose you if I didn't think you had. And sooner or later you'll realise that your sister, no matter how much you loved her and she you...was perfectly fine without you."

Richard turned fully to Juliet. "I can't speak for Jacob, like I told you before. I don't know if your sister is going to live or die. But I know that because you chose to leave...your sister's life may pay the price. However...if you chose to go back? She may survive. It's all up to you, Juliet."