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Title: Bad Blood Ch1 - "Killer Queen"
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Sawyer/Juliet
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,565
Spoilers: Up to 'La Fleur'
Summary: Circumstance forces James and Juliet to confront, and come to terms with, their pasts.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just playin' on their swing-set.
A/N: 'Bad Blood' is a 1975 hit by Neil Sedaka and the lyrics were the overall inspiration for this fic. 'Killer Queen' is a 1975 hit by Queen.
Chapter One - Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Juliet wondered, not for the first time, why she was always so quick to defend her actions. It was a defense mechanism, she realized, a way of keeping the people who got too close to her at bay. James Ford was no exception. He may just be unraveling her one precious layer at a time, but that was okay because she had plenty more to go before he tore down all her protective walls.
She hadn’t meant to snap at him either, but the feel of his finger tips as he touched her brought back the memory of the last time someone had touched her there – when they had burned her with the mark of her shame. But back then, she still held hope for rescue. A dark-haired surgeon with kind eyes had done his best to soothe the pain, even from behind the bars of his cage. She saw his desire for freedom mirroring her own and she allowed herself to hope that this man would get her off the Island that enslaved her. But he left her behind, just like everyone before. The memory and pain had faded with time - it really was easy to ignore when no one could question - until the enmity between her and her people was dredged up again by the curiosity of one man.
Damn him.
Juliet’s day had started out so well, which is why she was currently cursing nature for changing its direction.
“Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”
James heard her before he saw her. The dull clunk of a saucepan hitting the sink alerted him to the fact she was in the kitchen.
“Am I safe?” he called out, shutting the front door behind him.
“Yes!” she called back. He heard amusement in her tone and took that as a good sign that whatever was “ow”, was not seriously so.
He sauntered into the kitchen to find her rubbing at her arm, a chicken casserole stood on the counter behind her.
“What didja do?” his tone was playful and almost sing-song.
Juliet blew at a strand of hair obscuring her vision. “I – um – went for a walk at lunch and kind of, sort of, accidentally walked into some nettles.”
He smirked. “Were you always such a Clumsy Kelly? ‘Cause your track record’s startin’ to suck.”
She rolled her eyes, and grinned. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Course ya didn’t.”
Juliet whacked him with the dishcloth. “They were just… there.”
“You get a rash for ruinin’ their day?” he grinned. He could’ve sworn he saw her pout before she turned to take out the dinner plates. When she reached into the cupboard he spotted the angry red tendrils snaking up her arm.
“Here lemme get that.” He said, nudging her out of the way.
She looked at him with amusement. “Don’t go all macho on me, James. It’s just a rash.”
“I ain’t bein’ macho, woman. And if I don’t help you now, in two hours you’ll be tellin’ me I shoulda and I’ll never here the end of it.” He took the plates and cutlery through to the dining table. “And don’t you go rollin’ your eyes at me, you know I’m right.”
Juliet stopped her eyes mid-roll and smiled widely. She brought the casserole to the table and started dishing, while James poured them each a glass of wine. Sitting down, they dug into their dinners – James attacked his with gusto while Juliet used her fork to spearhead a piece of chicken before popping it into her mouth.
“Did they get you anywhere else?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“The nettles you kinda, sorta, accidentally walked into.”
“Oh, yeah. Round my stomach, and they even managed to climb all the way up my back somehow. I want to say that it doesn’t sting like hell,” she swallowed another mouthful. “But I’d be lying.”
He smiled. “Sorry.”
She shrugged.
“You see the doc?” he asked.
“For a rash? No.”
He shook his head. “Shoulda gone to see him.”
“I’ll be fine, James. I’ve got an anti-inflammatory and that should work.”
“Stubborn.” He muttered between mouthfuls.
They continued eating in amicable silence.
Eventually he raised his head and pointed his fork at her. “After dinner go find me that cream and I’ll do your back for ya. I know you couldn’t have got it all.”
“Really it’s fine, I can – “
He stretched out his arm as far as it would go, and waggled the fork. “No arguments.”
Juliet nodded once, pressing her lips into a thin line. James sighed from across the table. “Sometimes I think you do that deliberately.”
“What?” she asked.
“I bet you spend hours tryin’ to come up with ways to get me all hot and bothered.” he quipped lightly.
She smiled, spearing another forkful. “I don’t have to spend hours, James. With you, it’s surprisingly easy.”
Juliet snuck into her bedroom, while she let James tackle the dishes, and uncapped the anti-inflammatory cream. She wasn’t sure why she was being so protective over her body, she certainly wasn’t a prude, and as a doctor she wasn’t embarrassed by naked flesh either. Perhaps it was the remnant of tension left over from New Years. It had been over a month since they’d greeted 1975 by ignoring the party and kissing instead. They never spoke of their feverish exploration of each others mouths and they never treated each other any differently than they had before. However, their decision to ignore it meant there was always a current between them, pulsing steadily like a heartbeat. Yep. That’s it. Juliet thought. Better to just do it myself.
She was half way through with her front when she heard a cough from behind her. Glancing through the mirror, she saw James standing in the doorway with an eyebrow raised and his arms folded across his chest. She had the grace to look shamefaced. He walked over to her and without saying a word, plucked the tube of cream out of her hand. Turning her gently by the shoulder, he lowered one tank top strap and then the other, and gently massaged some of the cream into her swollen skin. Juliet used one hand to hold her shirt in place, and placed the other one over her lower back. She wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until she started feeling lightheaded, and exhaled suddenly. James mistook the action for discomfort.
“That sting?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She lied.
He put her straps back in place. “Okay, lower half if you please.”
Juliet hesitated. “I can do that part, it’s not as difficult.”
“Well I’m here now, ain’t no point in wasting a good pair of hands.”
“James – “
“Juliet, enough! It’ll take me two seconds.” he said sharply, removing the hand from her back and lifting her shirt up in one movement. “What the –“
Juliet winced.
James couldn’t help but trace his fingers over the strange symbol. It looked as if it had been carved into her lower back. The scar stood out more than any of the temporary tendrils did, a kind of upside down cross with four lines running from the center of the horizontal.
“Juliet? What?”
“Please don’t ask.” She breathed.
“Juliet.”
“Forget it.” She tugged her shirt down and turned to face him. “It’s nothing.” She took the tube of cream from his hand and headed for the bathroom.
He went after her. “Hey! Wait a sec! Who the hell branded you like a piece of cattle?”
She swung toward him, her stare cold and icy. “James, drop it.”
He followed her into the bathroom and cornered her at the sink. “No I won’t drop it. You don’t get a scar like that from fallin’ off a bike. So why don’t you tell me where the Holy Grail is?”
“What?” she was staring him down, but her confusion was evident.
James sighed, and softened his tone. “Indiana Jones. Last Crusade. Mark’s almost identical to the – look never mind that – I’m guessing you’re not protectin’ nothin’?”
She could feel the heat off his body and the intensity of his gaze caused Juliet to glance away. “Please just… go away. It’s none of your business.”
“Did they do this to you? Your people, the Others?”
“They haven’t been my people in a long time. Now go away!” she said forcefully, her temper rising.
“Was this is a ritual? Cataloguing the herd, so you can identify the enlightened ones?”
“James!”
“Well what then!?”
“You really want to know?” she snarled.
“Yes dammit!”
“It’s a mark of my betrayal!”
Silence fell between them. They were both red in the face, their breathing irregular and heavy. Juliet folded her arms across her chest, trying to create a barrier between them. Hopefully one he wouldn’t try to break down.
“Betrayal of what?” he asked quietly.
Juliet just looked at the floor.
“Juliet, why’d they give you that mark?” he pressed.
She raised her head to stare at him, her voice barely a whisper. “Because of you. Because I helped you. And because I killed one of my own people so that you… could escape.” She pushed him aside and headed for the door, before turning back to face him. “It’s my ‘Bad Blood’. You should know something about that - Sawyer.”
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