Author' notes: Thanks very much for all the reviews! I have figured out an effective way to bring Gus back into the story, but a few chapters have to take place first.

The next morning it is raining.

Sayid: "When it stops raining, we have to collect all the power sources we can, like batteries from phones and laptops. Then we can set up three antennas, and based on when the signal is received at all the locations I can triangulate the source of the radio signal."

It continues to rain heavily, and the passengers huddle in a few close tents.

Walt gets impatient, and looks to Michael. "You haven't been helping look for Vincent."

Michael: "Excuse me; I've had more important things to do. Look, when it stops raining I'll go look for your dog."

Walt frowns and shakes his head. One second later it stops raining.

Hurley: "Did you see that? Walt is … "

Sawyer: "A freak?"

Hurley: "I didn't want to say that."

Charlie: "That was … rad, man." Charlie is suffering withdrawal symptoms, and does not look good.

Shannon: "I'm sure lots of us were thinking that."

Boone: "Horrors! I may have to agree with Shannon."

Locke: "Stop that. It's just a coincidence. Or … the boy could be special."

Walt: "Arrgh! So what if weird stuff happens around me. Let's just find Vincent."

A large black bird flies out from the jungle, croaks something that sounds like "Hurley," and poops on Walt's head.

Walt: "Yuck!"

Hurley: "That was … weird."

Michael can't stifle a little laugh. "Walt, you need to wash up first."

Walt scowls, goes to the shore line, kneels, and dunks his head in the water. Once clean, he and Michael go into the woods to look for Vincent.

Charlie scurries off a little into the jungle for a quick fix. He rapidly falls under the influence of the heroin. He staggers back out, not focusing or realizing that several people see him, including Jack, Locke, Sayid, and Ethan.

Shannon gets up after eating some fruit, and feels woozy. She sits down on the beach.

Shannon: "Boone, I'm not feeling too good. Do you have my spare inhaler?"

Boone: "I already gave you my last one yesterday."

Shannon: "Oh no. What am I going to do?"

Boone: "I bet I know who has your original inhalers. The one with the stash."

Shannon: "You think so? You could be right for a change."

Boone confronts Sawyer. "Hey, we need more inhalers for Shannon, and you're the only one who could have them."

Sawyer slugs Boone, who crumples to the sand. "Don't know anything about that, Metro."

Shannon: "Boone, you're so useless."

Boone: "Uhhhhh …."

The punch is seen by several people. Sayid, Jack, and Locke converge on Sawyer. Sayid uses his martial arts skills to stun Sawyer, and he falls to the ground.

Sayid: "I … have to admit that I was a communications officer in the Iraqi Republican Guard."

Hurley, resenting Sawyer for all the insulting nicknames, asks, "Whoa. Um, what does that mean you did?"

Sayid: "It means I was very good at getting the enemy to communicate things with which they were not forthcoming."

Locke: "Good. Let's tie him to a tree. I'm very good at that." Locke pulls out a knife to cut down some vines as Jack nods his approval. Sayid drags Sawyer to a tree at the tree line, and Locke ties Sawyer up in a sitting position, with his hands behind the back of the tree.

Sawyer: "Happy now, Mustafa?"

Sayid: "No, but we must do what we must do. Now, are you going to tell us where the inhalers are?"

Sawyer: "I have to get something in return."

Jack: "You're being unreasonable. Shannon's life may be at stake. Go ahead."

Sawyer spits at Sayid. "So what are you going to do, Abdul? Stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails? Break a few bones? Or just beat my face bloody? I've been in lots of fights, and can take anything."

Sayid: "I shall do nothing of the sort. I have something much more appropriate in mind." Sayid turns around, and calls out, "Charlie, would you please come over here, and bring your guitar?"

Sawyer looks nervous. "What do you have in mind?"

Charlie: "Hey Sayid, what's up?"

Sayid: "We need you to give a performance for our friend Sawyer here. He is refusing to tell us where Shannon's inhalers are, and we need your help. Please play and sing your song 'You All Everybody' over and over until he tells us where the inhalers are."

Sawyer: "You fiend!"

Sayid: "Last chance."

Sawyer: "Forget it, Al Jazeera."

Charlie looks around at Jack, Shannon, and Boone. Not fully aware of the situation, he sees them nodding approval. "Okay, here goes."

Sayid: "And maximum volume, if you please."

Everyone else backs off, and Charlie strums his guitar and sings loudly a bit off-key.

Hurley: "Dang Sayid, you really can be cruel."

Sayid: "If I must. If a life weren't at stake I'd never suggest it, but …"

Sawyer struggles mightily, but Locke has done too good a job with the vines. Sawyer growls, his eyes filled with contempt.

Ethan hears Charlie singing and suggests, "Claire, why don't we go for another walk?"

Claire: "I like this song. I'd rather stay here for now."

Ethan grits his teeth.

Fifteen minutes later, Claire relents: "I don't need to hear that song all the time. Let's go."

Ethan: Finally! "Great! Let's go this way."

Ethan and Claire walk a little while, and then they are surprised by … Locke.

Locke: "Hello, what are you two doing out here?"

Ethan: "We had to get away from that cacophony on the beach."

Claire: "It wasn't that bad, just too repetitive."

Locke: "Be careful you don't get lost."

Ethan: "We won't. Say, what are you doing out here?"

Locke: "Looking for the right tree to make a dog whistle from. I'm afraid of what might happen if Walt doesn't get his dog back."

Claire: "Good idea, I hope it works."

Locke: "Thank you. Take care, you two."

Ethan knows he can't afford to blow his cover now. He and Claire go back to the beach, ending up a good distance away from the beach camp and then walking back along the shore.

Ethan: "You know, this could be romantic."

Claire: "It could? I wasn't thinking like that, but I suppose it might."

Finally, after two hours Sawyer screams: "All right, stop it, you bloody Limey! I'll tell you what you want to know!"

Charlie stops singing and playing the guitar. "I don't remember wanting to know something."

Sawyer: "Never mind. Get Freckles over here. I'll tell her."

Charlie: "Who's Freckles?"

Sawyer: "Haven't you been paying attention? That's Kate!"

Charlie: "No need to be rude, mate." Charlie walks unsteadily toward a group including Kate and Jack. "Sawyer says he'll talk to Kate."

Jack: "I'm in charge of this. He can talk to me."

Kate: "Forget it, Jack, I can take care of myself. Let's get this over with."

Kate strides to Sawyer. "Spill it, Sawyer."

Sawyer: "First, I need just one thing from you, Babe."

Kate splutters: "What!?"

Sawyer: "A kiss."

Jack interrupts. "No way! Charlie, get back here and keep on playing."

Kate: "Go away Jack, you're not the boss of me. Remember you owe me for stitching you up. Besides, I don't want to hear that music any more, even from a distance. If he doesn't talk, we will give him another dose."

Jack stands there agape.

Kate leans in and kisses Sawyer on the lips for eight seconds. "All right, now what's the story on the inhalers?"

Sawyer looks Kate in the eyes. "The honest truth is, I don't have any. None of the bags I found where Barbie's, and none of them had asthma inhalers."

Kate is stunned, but believes Sawyer is telling the truth. She turns back to the others. "He says he doesn't have any, and I believe him."

Jack: "What! Then why … ? Sayid, what do you think?"

Sayid looks at Sawyer, and Sayid's experience tells him, "Kate is right. Sawyer is telling the truth."

Kate addresses on Sawyer: "Why on earth would you let yourself go through all that if there was nothing to tell?"

Sawyer smirks. "To see what kind of people you are, to show you how much I can take, and most importantly, to get a kiss from you."

Kate is indignant. "Why you …"

Sawyer turns his head and braces for a slap in the face, but it is not forthcoming. He looks back at Kate. "Aren't you gonna slap me?"

Kate takes her time. "I don't want to slap you. What I want is … to not waste any more time." Kate seizes Sawyer's shirt collar, then yanks hard, ripping his shirt. It takes several efforts to rip the shirt off among all the vines, but Kate is eventually successful. Sawyer is bound too well to have any chance of stopping her. She then tosses the several pieces into a campfire, and comes back to explain.

"I am part of a large audience that doesn't want to see you wearing a shirt any more. Jack and Sayid look fine shirtless, but you're definitely the hottest."

Sawyer is momentarily taken aback at this turn of events, but recovers to speak in an exaggerated drawl. "Why, I had no idea you felt this way about me, Puddin'."

Kate: "Knock it off. After I saw you yesterday morning … oh never mind."

Sawyer chuckles. "Now that that's all taken care of, would you care to untie me?"

Kate: "After that stunt you pulled to get a kiss? And Shannon still needs help. Are you kidding?"

Sawyer: "So what are you going to do, leave me here all day?"

Kate: "That sounds like a great idea. Now there's a little more slack in the vines, due to the thickness of your shirt no longer there. Maybe you can work yourself out. I'd like to see you try. Put those muscles into action. Kate steps away, and Sawyer just sneers.

Sun has understood enough of the situation to realize what must be done. She has seen eucalyptus trees on the way to her garden. She grabs several, tears them up into small pieces, and soaks them in a pan of water. She gestures to Jack, and then they go to Shannon, who is lying on the beach. Sun rubs the leaves on Shannon's upper chest, and her breathing improves markedly.

Jack: "Sun, that was brilliant! Eucalyptus, of course. You're a life saver."

Boone walks up, after having taken the few hours to recover from Sawyer's punch. "Hey, I can … administer that stuff if you can get more of it."

Sun feigns ignorance at Jack's and Boone's remarks, and just nods. Then she walks back to Jin, who is trying to teach Hurley to fish. As usual, Jin and Sun converse in Korean.

Jin: "What was that all about?"

Sun: "The tall blonde was suffering from asthma, and it looked like they had no more inhalers. I made a remedy my grandmother taught me."

Jin: "Your top button is undone again."

Sun gets irritated. "I tell you, it's too hot. No one else is dressed like this." Sun does up her top button anyway, afraid of what Jin might do.

Michael and Walt return after a couple unsuccessful hours of searching for Vincent. They see Sawyer tied up.

Walt: "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Michael: "Walt, control yourself. Sawyer, what's going on?"

Sawyer sneers, and Jack comes up and interrupts. He explains what went on.

Michael: "Walt, let's go leave them alone to their goofy games."

In the woods, Locke has found the right kind of tree. He breaks off a dry branch, and whittles a dog whistle out of it. He blows on it, and Vincent appears out of nowhere. They go to the beach, where Vincent sees Walt.

Walt: "Vincent! I knew we would find you!"

Vincent and Walt run toward each other, resulting in a violent collision. In a second Vincent is on top of Walt, Vincent's front legs on Walt's chest and his hind legs on Walt's hips. Vincent licks Walt's face enthusiastically.

Walt: "Ha ha ha Vincent that tickles stop ha hee hee …"

Walt repeatedly tries to push Vincent away, but Vincent keeps getting his weight back on Walt. After four minutes Walt is hyperventilating, and collapses, lying still. Sensing something amiss, Vincent stops licking Walt, and settles down on his chest, pinning Walt to the sand.

Michael comes over and pets Vincent. "Good dog. Just stay there and keep Walt out of trouble. He needs a nap anyway."

Locke comes over. "Here Michael, I made this dog whistle, in case Vincent ever runs away again."

Michael is a bit dejected. "You know, you might have found a way to give me some credit for this. I could use something that makes me look better in my son's eyes."

Locke: "I could have, but Walt would have eventually found out the truth, and would hate you the more for it."

Michael sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Michael and Locke walk off to collect fruit and water, leaving Walt helplessly pinned.

Walt, in a weak voice: "Hey, don't leave me like this …" and then Walt passes out unheard. The enforced nap does him good, and everyone else rejoices.

As the afternoon wears on, nobody helps Sawyer. Infuriated, he finds the strength to move his hands back and forth, rubbing the vine against the tree to which he is tied. Kate spies on him from behind some trees and is turned on by the effort. In a couple hours the vine is sawed through, and in another several minutes Sawyer completely frees himself. That does it. I'm gonna drive a very hard bargain with anyone who wants anything from my stash. Sawyer goes to his secret stash location in the jungle, and digs out the gun he almost shot Gus with. I won't make that mistake again. I'm keeping this baby on me at all times.

Sayid spends the rest of the day searching for power cells from cell phones and laptops. He doesn't get quite enough. Hurley sees Sayid with several batteries.

Hurley: "Hey dude, did you get enough?"

Sayid: "Not quite. The only other possibility is that Sawyer has something in his stash, but I don't want to deal with him now. He may destroy something useful out of spite."

Hurley: "Tough break. Hey, why don't you ask an intermediary? Someone he won't act nasty to."

Sayid: "That's a good idea, but …" Sayid goes through all the passengers in his mind. "I don't think he's on good terms with anyone."

Hurley thinks, and replies: "Could be. Let's see, there's drawing straws. Phoning a friend is out, but we could poll the audience."