Daniel was back on the beach where it all began. It was nighttime and he was sitting in the sand by the water. His journal was open in his lap. He could hear the sounds of the survivors arguing. It was the night that they had started moving through time. Charlotte was walking toward him. He had been so worried about her. He had feared that she would die or end up catatonic like Theresa. He wondered if this was real or if it was a dream. Charlotte settled next to him in the sand and offered him a mango. He thanked her and accepted it.

"Where did you find these?" asked Daniel.

"In the jungle," Charlotte replied "You should eat, you have a very long journey ahead of you."

"What are you talking about, Charlotte?" asked Daniel.

"Rome is special, Daniel. You have to get him off this island even if it means leaving me behind." said Charlotte.

"I won't leave without you, Charlotte. I've spent every day of the last three years thinking about you. I would die for you, Char. You and Rome."

Charlotte smiled and reached out to touch his face. Daniel caught her arm and pulled her closer. He tangled his fingers in her curly, fiery hair and kissed her fiercely. When the kiss ended Charlotte rested her head on his shoulder. Daniel knew this was how it was meant to be.

"I love you, Faraday." Charlotte murmured into his ear.

"I love you, Lewis."

"Please keep Rome safe. Tell him I love him and I miss him. Tell him that mommy never meant to leave him."

Daniel wrapped his arms around Charlotte and pulled her against his chest.

"Where did you go, Charlotte?" he asked her "Why can't you be found?"

"He was going to hurt Rome, Daniel. I had to go with him."

Daniel pulled back and looked Charlotte in the eye.

"Who, Charlotte?" he asked "Who was going to hurt our baby?"

Then their fragile peace was shattered. Screams of terror came from the crowd of survivors behind them. All along he had known this was coming. Flaming arrows were raining down on the beach.

"Come on, Charlotte, run, run!" he said. For some reason he wasn't scared this time. All he wanted was for Charlotte to be safe.

Daniel leapt to his feet and pulled Charlotte with him. They ran toward the jungle.

Daniel saw a lone figure huddled in the sand, too afraid to run. It was Alex. They ran to her and Charlotte helped him pull Alex to her feet.

"Alex, we have to run, now!" said Charlotte, pulling her along. Alex shook off her fear and ran with them. Daniel could hear the hiss of arrows burying their noses in the sand. Miraculously, they made it into the tree line. Then, Charlotte fell. Daniel thought the ground would open up and swallow him

"Daniel!" cried Charlotte.

. He pushed Alex forward and turned to help Charlotte. He took both of her hands and pulled her to her feet. Together, they ran into the night. In that moment Daniel knew he wanted nothing more than for his family to be together.

Sawyer and Juliet were in trouble. Radzinsky and several of his men had come to their house and discovered Phil in the closet. They were being interrogated now. Radzinsky had pistol-whipped Sawyer several times but it wasn't doing any good. He wasn't going to tell them where the rest of their people were. Shit, he didn't even know their exact location. Horace kept trying to stop Radzinsky but the situation was out of his control. Sawyer's chair had been knocked to the ground. When they asked where Kate was he spat blood on Radzinsky's shoes.

"This isn't doing any good, Stuart!" said Horace "We're done here, he isn't going to talk!"

"I can make him talk." said Phil. He turned and punched Juliet in the face. Sawyer screamed in agony and struggled against his bonds.

"I'll fucking kill you, Phil," Sawyer yelled "Just wait!"

Their scene was interrupted by Dr. Chang banging through the door. He announced that he had stopped the drilling at the Swan site and that they needed to evacuate the island. Sawyer started formulating a plan in his head. A plan that would get himself and Juliet on the sub.

A silence had settled over the Other's camp. Richard stood by Alex, arms crossed. He was staring daggers at Eloise.

"What were you thinking, Eloise?" said Richard.

"He had a gun to Charles' head, I reacted." said Eloise.

"Richard, there's no time." said Alex. She was on her knees by Daniel. He was still alive but just barely. Kate and Jack had come out of the bushes and they were standing with Angel, talking hurriedly. "We have to get him to Jacob!"

Richard rubbed his temples and beckoned to Angel.

"Wherever they need to go, take them," said Richard . He turned to Eloise. "I am leaving Angel in charge in my absence. If you defy him, you defy me is that understood?"

"Yes, Richard, I understand." she said.

Richard went to get one of the horses so they wouldn't have to carry Daniel to the statue. Alex rose and went to stand with Kate and Jack.

"You guys understand the next part of the plan, right?" she asked.

"We'll get the bomb," said Kate "Take care of Daniel, and don't get killed. The DI is looking for all of us now, so be careful."

Kate impulsively threw her arms around Alex in a hug. They said their goodbyes as Richard returned with a horse. Jack helped him hoist Daniel into the saddle.

"How long do you think he has, Richard?" asked Alex.

"An hour, maybe more," said Richard "We're going to have to run."

He clapped Angel on the shoulder and pulled the horse behind him. Alex fell in step with him and they started running into the jungle. This left Kate, Jack, Angel, and Eloise staring at each other awkwardly. It became apparent that Jack and Angel were sizing each other up. Daniel's journal had been left on the ground and Angel picked it up.

"Do you know where the bomb, is Eloise?" asked Angel "That was before my time."

"Why?" she asked "Why would Richard want the bomb to be dug up?"

Angel wordlessly handed her Daniel's journal. She looked at him questioningly and opened it. She almost dropped it in shock. Her own handwriting stared at her from the first page. "When I was seventeen, I took a man out to the bomb. He told me that if we buried it everything would be fine. When I asked him how he could be so sure, he told me that he was from the future. I just shot the same man. Twenty years later and he hadn't aged a day. He's my son. It isn't possible but I know it's the truth." Eloise absentmindedly touched her stomach.

"Eloise," said Jack "Your son doesn't have to die. What we're trying to do will fix everything, you can undo this."

Eloise wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded resolutely.

"The bomb is buried under the barracks, there's another entrance," said Eloise "Follow me."

Richard stood outside of Jacob's statue. He sighed and leaned back against the stone. They had brought Daniel to Jacob. All he could do now was wait. Alex was inside talking to him now. Richard didn't see how Alex could change Jacob's mind but she had asked for a minute alone with him so Richard assumed she had a plan. What was going on? What was Alex planning?

"Richard?" Alex had come back out of the statue. He could hear her voice but his vision was becoming one big blind spot. These flashes were becoming dangerous. What if he had one while he was climbing a ladder or riding a horse?

As far as Richard could tell, he was back at the Temple. He was wandering down one of the hallways inside. The air was cool and it was dim When was he? This had to be before the other vision he'd had here. The one where he had found Alex dead. He was in the hallway that served as sleeping quarters. Some of the doors were open and he could see people sleeping on mats in the rooms. It had to be late, after midnight. Why was he here? Where was Alex?

"Richard, is that you?" he would know her voice anywhere. He stopped in the doorway of the room her voice had come from.

"I'm here, Alex." he said.

"Come here."

Richard stepped into her room. She was laying on her mat, wrapped up in a blanket. A lantern was burning in the corner, dimly lighting the room. "Close the door, come sit."

Richard shut the door behind him and settled on the floor next to the mat. God, she was beautiful. She was wearing a white tank top that contrasted perfectly with her smooth, pale skin. Her long, dark, hair was messy and it flowed over her shoulders.

"What are we going to do, Richard?" Alex asked him. All he wanted to do was take her away from here. If he could get her away maybe she wouldn't die.

"Let's leave," said Richard "We could go right now, no one would see us."

"You know I can't leave. I have to guard the temple, I made a deal with Jacob." Alex said miserably.

"That's why you wanted to talk to him alone. In the statue, when we brought Daniel there. You traded your life for Daniel's." All of the pieces were coming together for Richard. Now all of his visions were starting to make sense.

"I don't want to talk about this. Please, Richard. I just want some time with you, before everything falls apart. I don't know how much longer I can do this."

Do what? What was she talking about? Then he realized Miles wasn't here. Why weren't they sleeping together?

"Where's Miles?" asked Richard. Alex shrunk away from him

"He's angry with me, Richard. You know that. He and Daniel left earlier, they're looking for Charlotte." Alex turned on her other side and faced the wall. Richard could hear her crying quietly. He was causing her pain and he hated himself for that. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She tensed, then she turned back over and sat up.

"I love him, Richard. I always will, even if he doesn't want me. You have to know that I love you too. We were never meant to be together, we aren't even supposed to be here, existing at the same time. I just don't want to cause either of you anymore pain."

Alex had grown up so quickly. From a child that was full of light and joy to a scarred, beautiful teenager. Now she was something else entirely. She was someone that would live and die for her beliefs and her friends. She was a warrior, Jacob's warrior. He had chosen her to be the one to save all of them. Richard just prayed she would live long enough to do it. He took Alex in his arms and twined his fingers in her hair. For a moment they were completely still, just staring into each other's eyes. Alex circled her arms around his neck and pulled him into the kiss. It was all so natural to him, like he had done this before. They fell back onto the mat and Alex started undoing the buttons on his shirt. More clothes came off and Richard remembered thinking that if he died now he would die happy. Her voice in his ear made him crazy and he wanted to stay like this forever.

Then he was pulled away from her skin burning into his and he was back on the beach. Alex was sitting by the water, knees drawn into her chest. Richard went to join her and when she saw that he had come back she stood.

"How long was I gone for?" he asked her.

"A while. It's been almost an hour," she replied "What did you see?"

"You don't want to know." he said quickly.

"I think I do."

"No, Alex. You don't need to know."

"Yes I do, tell me now!" she was starting to get frustrated.

"Okay, but you asked for this," Richard drew in a deep breath "We were in the Temple. In bed together. We..were making love...in the Temple."

For a moment Alex was speechless.

"No we weren't," she stammered out "That isn't going to happen."

Richard shrugged and grinned at her suggestively. She was saved from having to continue the conversation by Daniel emerging from the statue. Wordlessly, she turned away from him and walked toward Daniel. There wasn't time for this. They had to end the world first.

Kate, Angel, Jack, and Eloise made their way through the jungle. Jack was walking behind Angel and staring daggers into his back. They stopped by one of the deep creeks in the jungle to rest. Eloise sat by Kate and started taking off her shoes.

"I hope all of you can swim, the tunnel is underwater." said Eloise.

"We'll manage." said Jack.

"Daniel, my son, what is he..like?" Eloise asked Kate "He's a good man, isn't he?"

Kate smiled at her. She knew Eloise had to be in deep pain over what had happened to Daniel.

"He's a good person. He's brilliant and kind. He would do anything for his friends and his family." said Kate.

"Family?" asked Eloise.

"You have a grandson, Eloise. His name is Rome. He's three and he looks just like Daniel. He's smart like Daniel too."

"I didn't know he had a baby. I wish I could meet him. Is Rome with his mother?" asked Eloise.

Kate sighed sadly. Charlotte had disappeared the day before Daniel came back. Kate explained this to Eloise and assured her that Rome was safe and in good hands. Eloise shushed her suddenly and drew her gun. Angel followed suit and they stood very still, listening. Someone was moving very stealthily through the jungle toward them.

"Show yourself!" yelled Angel, clicking the safety off his guns. There was a rustling in the bushes and Sayid came into the clearing. No one had seen him since his escape from the Dharma barracks.

"Hello, Sayid," said Kate "Why don't you join the party?"

Unbeknownst to Daniel, his plan was moving along right on schedule.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: whoo that was a pretty intense chapter. I don't want you guys to worry for Alex and Miles, there's going to be a lot more Malex. As some of you already know, I have every intention of continuing this story into season 6 so get ready. I'm either going to do flash-backs or flash-sideways in the sequel I haven't decided yet. I also have another baby planned. Charlotte is MIA for now but she'll be making plenty of appearances. I'm trying to stick to the canon but I'm doing it my way. I love all of you for reading and reviewing. Valhalla, eyoen, dr. giggles, you guys have been here from the beginning and that means the world to me. love, love, and more love!