Widmore brought them back to the cages. Alice and Jack recognized this place and were bombarded with memories they didn't necessary ask for. It also made Alice think of how Jack had refused to save Ben in 1977 and therefore, helped him become the man Ben was today. Something happened to Sayid when he was brought back and Alice could only assume that a quite similar thing happened to Linus when Kate and Sawyer had given him over to the others, to Richard.

"Hell, no!" James's grumble woke her up from her reverie. "I ain't going into a cage like some damn animal!" He protested and tried to resist. In that moment, they all heard Widmore's gun being released from its safety and then the cold, metallic barrel was pressed against Alice's temple, causing her body to still, but heartbeat to fasten.

"I swear, if you hurt her..." Jack started immediately, but Widmore interrupted him.

"You'll do what, exactly? Shephard, Reyes, Ford, Kwan... you're all on the list, but she is not. Not anymore," he informed. "She's expendable."

James looked Alice in the eye and saw the tears in there. She was doing her best to be strong and appear to be brave, but she was failing. He knew she was fighting for two now and maybe exactly that disqualified her from being a candidate. He simply got inside the cage and let Widmore lock him and the rest of them up, Alice landing there last, being pushed hard enough to lose her ground. She would've fallen if James hadn't caught her, Jack being too far away to make it in time.

She just stayed there, in her friend's arm and let him embrace her. She felt a little bit better thanks to that, but only a little.

Once they were left alone, Jack made his way to Alice who was just being let go by Sawyer.

"What did he mean?" he asked with a frown. "Why aren't you on the list?"

Alice had wanted to tell him the truth for a very long time now, she really had, but not like this. This seemed like the wrong place to do it. Luckily for her – or unluckily – she hadn't quite figured that one out yet; they heard the familiar sinister sound of the smoke monster approaching. Locke must've gotten to Hydra island somehow and Widmore's people were clearly behind in their work on the sonic fence, because they should've put it up by now.

Then Alice thought of a different thing – she hadn't felt anything remotely similar to her ability and she wondered whether it was weakening because Jacob was dead or because she was pregnant. Well, she wouldn't miss it either way, she decided and hoped that it was the first option because then Richard could become human again.

Locke killed all of Widmore's people who were around and released the survivors from the cages. They were lost as they weren't sure whom to follow, but then again, they also didn't have a choice, so they went with the monster.

He took them straight to the plane and then retrieved a bomb from it.

"Charles Widmore would never let you leave," Locke informed when holding the bomb for all of them to see. "He let me into his camp today. He let me free all of you to give you the false sense of being safe. He was planning on gathering you all in a tight, confined space like this plane, so he could kill you. Now, if you go with me to the sub, we will get out of this island. I promise you that."

Again, having no better choice and choosing the lesser evil at the moment – although Alice wasn't so sure, desperately trying to tap into her ability and not being able to locate that feeling anymore. She immediately remembered the well-known phrase - be careful what you wish for. What if her wish had come true in least wanted moment?

She walked right behind Jack and Sawyer and just now noticed that they were talking. She decided to pay attention to what they were saying to each other and soon enough she knew that James didn't want Locke on the sub and he was right. They couldn't let this... thing... whatever it really was, to get out of the island because of what it could do in the real world with millions of people around. Jack promised James to take care of Locke. He and Alice, too, noticed that the man somehow couldn't cross water while being the smoke monster, so maybe pushing him into it could be their chance.

And just then, once they reached the submarine, Alice finally felt it. Danger was coming and it was coming fast. She was just opening her mouth to warn everyone, but it was already too late.

One moment Jack was pushing Locke into the water and the next there was a gunshot and Kate was hit.

Alice – just like everyone else – grabbed her own gun and opened fire to the enemy, the people who were apparently trying to protect Locke. It was extremely difficult to listen to the signals her body was giving her and to shot based on them, but she managed, focusing all her energy on it, pushing her mind away from Jack or Kate or James or anyone else she might care about. This was the only way to protect them now.

Eventually, she made her way to the sub and was relieved to see James waiting for her at the bottom of the ladder; Jack, Kate and Hugo following.

Jack took care of Kate immediately and this time Alice didn't hold it against him. Kate seemed to be in a lot of pain and Alice cared about her way too much to just watch her die. Still, before she would check on anyone, she had to find a seat and rest. She lowered her head, doing her best to overcome the nausea. She didn't know if it came from her ability of pregnancy, but it didn't matter. It sucked either way.

"Hey, you ok?" James walked over to her and he squatted by her side, looking up at her face. "Is this because...?" his voice trailed off significantly and she was grateful that he was tactful enough not to say too much.

"No," she finally decided when shaking her head. "I don't think..." and then she gasped, suddenly hit with a wave so powerful that her eyes opened widely and she raised her head. "Something's wrong!" she screamed for everyone to hear and James stood up, scared as well. "Something is really, really wrong!"

Next, Jack retrieved a bomb from his backpack. The same bomb they'd seen in Locke's hands.

"Son of a bitch!" Sawyer cursed. "The bastard kept talking about Widmore getting us all into a confined space and he did it himself!"

Sayid quickly made his way to Jack, taking a look at the bomb, but he couldn't be sure if pulling the wires at the same time would help or do just the opposite. The mechanism was too elaborated and tricky and they didn't have enough time.

"Nothing is going to happen," Jack suddenly said and everyone stared at him. "We should just let it be."

"Jack, no!" Alice protested, still in pain caused by her ability. Why had she tried to wake it up in the first place? She started wondering. What good did it do to them now? "It's real! The way I feel it's all the proof you need!"

"Are you absolutely sure that you're afraid of the bomb or just what we can do with it?" he asked a very confusing question and she didn't understand him at all. The nausea and discomfort she felt wasn't helping either.

"Locke wants us dead, but for some reason he can't kill us," Jack went on, speaking directly to his wife. "This is how he'll do it. He wants to trick us into doing it ourselves. It's a trap, Alice. Trust me on this."

Their eyes locked for a moment and she could actually feel it. She could sense the truth in what he was saying. How did she know? She had no idea, but she was sure of it. She believed him. Maybe it was crazy, but she did nevertheless.

"I ain't gonna be blown to pieces!" James then said and pulled the wires just like Sayid suggested.

For a moment, everything was all right, the counting seemed to stop, only then it started all over again, this time like five times faster.

They were all too shocked to act and it was Sayid who grabbed the bomb and then turned to Jack to tell him quickly, "Find Desmond. He's on the island and Locke wants him dead, so you'll need him." Then he just ran away with the bomb in his hands and they all watched it happen until they heard the explosion.

Sayid was gone. The sub was sinking. And everything went to hell.

As soon as the water started getting into the room and they felt the sub going down, Jack cared only about one thing and that was getting Alice out of there safely. He called her name and tried to get to the place she was before, but it seemed impossible. They were drowning fast and the water was already up to his waist. Besides, all the furniture was just dancing around and he heard a scream he located came from Sun as one of the pieces crashed straight into her.

"Hurley, get her out of here!" Jack turned to Hugo as he was the only uninjured person he could see near him and pointed Kate. She was shot and that made it difficult for her to get out on her own. Then he turned to Sun, still looking all over the sinking room to find his wife. And he couldn't. He just couldn't find her and he didn't want to think of what that might mean. He heard James calling her name as well and that unsettled him even more.

Meanwhile, Alice was easily thrown into the next room as the water hit. She had no strength to fight the tide because she was still incapacitated by the terrible feeling filling her in and something told her it was the death coming. Then she didn't even have the strength to fight for air anymore and she inhaled the water, her lungs filling with it. All she saw before her eyes as she was dying was Jack. How they met. How she stitched him up. How he still had the scar she left on him, a reminder of that first time they spoke. How they fell in love madly and fast and how they saved each other and... that was it, Alice realized with the last ounce of strength she had left. That was it. He saved her and all she had to do was to save him right back, repay that debt. Only she failed and now it was too late. She was dead.

Jack couldn't stand the idea of leaving Sun and Jin behind, but they themselves told him to go and look for his wife. He knew deep down that there was no way he could get Sun out. No one could with the sub sinking so rapidly, with the pressure and the lack of air. So he left. But he knew that the sight of Sun and Jin drowning would forever haunt him.

He swam forward, using the small air-tank Jin had given him and finally, he saw her. He didn't want it to be true. He didn't want her to turn out to be dead. She couldn't be. Not now. Not ever. Then it would truly be all his fault. Then he would have killed her and Juliet and Sun and Jin. Just please God, no! Jack was pleading desperately as he grabbed Alice's arm and gently yanked her upwards, out of the sub and to the surface. Please, please, let her be all right, he was silently praying, not even remembering the last time he'd done so. He knew he didn't deserve God's attention, but she did. Alice was one of the best people he knew, if not the best. She loved fiercely with all her heart and despite everything Jack had done to her, she'd never

given up. He saw that now. He understood that she would gladly give her life for him and he would do just the same. If only he hadn't been so stupid before. If only he'd trusted her instead of pushing her away.

Finally, after what seemed like a whole eternity, he broke through the surface, threw the tank away and before he even managed to breathe the fresh air in, he started screaming for help and then choking. Soon, there was a pair of hands taking Alice from him and bringing her to the shore and once Jack got there, as well not even feeling his legs anymore but still going, he saw that it was Sawyer who helped him.

"She ok?" the guy asked, his voice terrified and full of guilt.

Jack didn't answer, he just got to his knees in front of Alice's inert body and cleared her airway, preparing her for the resuscitation. It had to work. It just had to work, he was telling himself. Just like it'd worked once with Charlie. It would work now, too. She hadn't been under for too long.

He seemed not to have any breath left in his lungs, he seemed not to have any strength, but he kept on going. He blew the air into her mouth and then started the heart massage. He didn't trust anyone else with her life because they would give up sooner than he would. And he would never. Not until she breathed.

Hugo and Kate came over and they were sobbing. Sawyer was frantically murmuring something under his breath, but Jack didn't care about any of that. He only cared about saving Alice. He focused only on her, trying not to think of how fragile her body seemed to be now, of how much smaller she was in comparison to him. How could she survive this?

While Jack was working on bringing Alice back, James already felt like they lost her. She'd been unconscious for way too long, he thought when covering his mouth with his hand and thinking of how she was pregnant and how he probably killed her because he didn't listen to Jack. He would never tell the doc that he was going to be a father, he decided right then and there. He would carry that secret with him to the rest of his days even if it destroyed him. Jack couldn't know. It would be too much.

And just in that moment, James heard coughing and he looked at Alice and saw that it came from her.

"Thank God!" he yelled, hope entering his heart again. "Thank God!"

"Alice?" Jack asked, completely shocked that it actually worked. It was one thing not to give up, but completely another to actually see that he hadn't done it for a reason, that he actually brought her back. "Alice! Thank God! Alice!" he kept on calling her name and crying and then he brought her to his chest, hugging so tightly that he was actually afraid he would cause some damage. He'd just brought her back, after all.

Only Alice stopped coughing by now and she was shaking with cold and seeking out his heat as well. Even though he was wet, too, even though he himself was shaking. She just needed to feel him. She needed him to hold her. She simply needed to hear the beating of his heart and to make sure he was alive. That they were both alive. Actually, that the three of them were alive. She didn't feel any pain in her lower abdomen, so she hoped that the baby was fine. Then she, too, started crying.

"Where's Sun? Jin?" Hugo chose that moment to ask and Jack just shook his head.

Then he gently released Alice from his arms and stood up, simply looking at the ocean. He didn't feel cold anymore. He didn't even feel happy or sad. He was simply numb. He made a few steps forward and walked right back into the ocean, then got to his knees as though the upcoming waves could somehow cleanse him. Tears were flooding down his face as the guilt overwhelmed him. He felt guilty because Alice had gone after him. She trusted him and he almost got her killed in return just like he did to Juliet, like he did to Jin and Sun. And the Koreans had a little baby waiting for them back home! A daughter Jin hadn't even seen yet and now he would never get the chance to. Thinking about it all was just too much.

Jack felt someone's presence behind him and then a pair of arms were put around him from behind. Alice pressed herself into his back, just holding him as he cried, as his body kept on shaking. He knew she wanted to comfort him, but she actually made it all worse.

"I'm sorry," he said through his tears. "I should've never pushed you away. Now all I do is keep hurting you." Because he did, he thought. He only brought her pain. It might be Sawyer who actually 'detonated' the bomb on the sub in the end, but it was Jack who brought Alice back to the island, detonated the hydrogen bomb, killed Juliet, kept on failing his wife and eventually he almost killed her as well. He almost killed the very woman he loved more than anything! And if he really loved her, he thought, he would have to just let her go. She'd be much happier without the misery he was bringing into her life. Maybe she'd be happier with Richard. She might've said they were just friends and Jack believed her, but he saw the way Richard looked at her just the same. He wasn't blind. She could even be happy with Sawyer. But not with him. Not with Jack. Not really. Had she ever been actually happy with him? He wondered. Back on the island? Then back at home when he'd found out about Claire being his sister? Now? No, he realized, terrified of his own discovery. She had been not.

Eventually, they got up and came back to their camp which was nearby. None of them said anything. They were all in shock after everything that had happened.

Once they were at their destination, Jack found a blanket and wrapped it around Alice so she would warm up. He didn't want her to get sick after everything she'd just been through.

"Stay," she told him the, taking a hold of his hand just when he was about to leave.

He did stay. Despite everything that was happening inside of him, he stayed because she asked him to. He just couldn't deny her that.

"Remember how it all started?" she asked after a moment of silence. "Remember our first kiss? The beginning?"

"How you got condoms from Sawyer?" he asked partially because he wanted to hear her laugh one last time despite all the tragedies around them and because he was sick of feeling so heavy.

"Or how you were obsessed with doing it in the shower?" she retaliated with a smile and he saddened all over again at the memory. He would never again see her naked. He would never be able to touch her, to make her feel good, to bury himself deep inside her and just... He closed his eyes and fisted his hands. It was too much. Losing her would be the end of him. Why hadn't he seen it before? He wondered. Why?! Why had he been so stupid and blind?! Now there was no coming back. It had been then, but not now. Now it was simply too late and someone had to take over Jacob's, Jack knew it. He saw that despite everything, Jacob was the only one who told the truth.

"You need to rest," he eventually said to Alice. "You almost died today. Just get some sleep." She must've been very tired because she actually listened without a word of protest. Once she was lying down and Jack was putting the blanket over her, he hesitated. Could he really just walk away right this moment? Couldn't he wait a little bit longer? Eventually, on seeing that everyone else was resting on their own way, too, he lay down right next to his wife and tentatively put his arm around her, spooning her, his heart raging in his chest. None of them talked, but she took his hand into her arms and fell asleep just holding on to it. Jack didn't even dare move, he wanted to savor this moment because he knew it would be their last.

Jacob once again visited Alice, but this time she knew it was a dream. She couldn't see him. She didn't even know where she was. She just remembered what he said to her, "Wake up, Alice. It's time." She opened her eyes and sat up straight almost immediately, already feeling that something was wrong. And then she figured out what. She was cold. She didn't feel the warmth coming from Jack's body anymore because there was no Jack around her. In fact, she was all alone on the beach, everybody else gone as well. They must've been close, though, she thought when slowly getting to her feet. They must've been close because they wouldn't just leave her there without protection if they were going somewhere far. She might be weak that day, but she still had a job to do. And she needed to hurry. It was time for the truth and nothing but the truth.

What if she was already too late? She worried, terrified out of her mind as she was running through the jungle. It seemed like a whole eternity, but in fact, she found her people pretty quickly. They really were close.

"Where's Jack?!" she asked in panic as she saw Kate and James and Hugo, but not her husband. "Where is he?!" she repeated, desperately looking for any sense or feeling inside to tell her that it wasn't too late. But then again, not feeling anything sinister coming was a good thing, right?

"He went with Jacob," Kate said after a moment. "He... he volunteered to take his place," she informed gently as though she was afraid of Alice's reaction.

"Where?!" Alice just asked.

"This way." It was James who answered her and started walking. She followed him, urging him to go faster and she could feel Kate and Hurley going after as well, probably curious of what would happen. None of them was ready for another drama, but they might not have a choice.

"Jack, stop!" Alice screamed once she stepped into a small clearing right next to a stream where Jack stood in the company of some man and was just about to press a cup to his lips. He stopped on seeing her, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Alice..." her name came out of his mouth in a sigh.

The man turned to look at her and she recognized him right away.

"You," she said. ''How can I see you if you're dead?"

"You're almost too late," he just said, ignoring her question.

"Too late for what?" Jack wanted to know. "What is going on here?" He turned to Jacob. "Is there something you forgot to mention?"

"Jack, you can't do this," Alice decided to just say what she had to say. They didn't have much time and she needed to win her husband back. She needed to save him. "Jacob manipulated you," she informed. "He always saw you as his replacement. He wanted you because you had what it took."

"What did you just say?" Jack was actually surprised.

"I know," Alice admitted. "You never thought you had it because of your father, but you do, Jack. You're a magnificent man and I love you. But this doesn't mean you have to do this," she said when making a circling gesture with her arms.

"This won't be so easy, will it?" Hugo just asked the rest.

"Jack, you would have never left me if this man hadn't manipulated you!" Alice repeated, pointing a finger at Jacob.

"But I never met him before."

"Oh, I'm sure you have," she continued. "Maybe you just don't remember."

Jack looked at Jacob, probably expecting him to deny everything Alice was just saying, but to his surprise, the man just stood still and observed.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Jack asked him.

"What do you want me to say?" Jacob asked right back.

"There was a time when you saved me, Jack," Alice continued, feeling like she finally had a shot, like Jack's trust in Jacob was crumbling, "let me save you now."

"Can't you just get to the point, sweetheart?" Sawyer asked when folding his arms on his chest. "This ain't a soap op... au!" he grumbled when Kate kicked him to shut him up.

"When we got married," Alice continued, completely ignoring James's remark, "you said we'd always save each other. You said we'd be one another's reason to live and that you'd never going to leave me. Why are you so bent on doing exactly that now?" she asked with glassy eyes. "Did you ever mean any of it, Jack?!"

"Of course I did!" he finally said, his voice broken as well. "But can't you see that all I'm doing is hurting you?! I destroy you!"

"No, you do not!" She disagreed. "You give me strength and love and I can't live without you. You destroy me when you keep pushing me away. I'm not some fragile twig that will break if you put too much pressure on me, Jack! I want to support you the same way you supported me once! When we crashed on this island, I wanted to die! And you saved me! Can't you see that I'm trying to do the same thing for you right now?! I'm strong for the both of us now!"

"Alice..."

"And I'm pregnant," she finally revealed, using her final argument. If she was afraid before that by saying it she would obligate Jack to do something he didn't really want to, she knew now that she had been wrong. Jack loved her and because of that, he wanted to let her go. He thought he couldn't make her happy. As twisted as that logic of his was, she understood.

There was silence as everyone was processing what Alice just said and it was actually Hurley who spoke first, "Dude!... Au!" he then complained when for a change, James kicked him.

"Wait... what?" Jack asked in confusion. "You're... pregnant?" For a moment, there was a surprise smile on his face as though he thought it was impossible but in the same time it was the greatest gift she could give him. As though he discovered he didn't have a problem with having a child anymore. Only then he continued, "But you said you couldn't..."

"Because it was the truth at the time," she said. "We made this baby in Dharma Initiative. And he," she pointed at Jacob, "couldn't get to me there."

"I... I don't understand again," Jack admitted, perplexed.

"Jacob didn't want the island to heal me like it happened with Jin, because he wanted you to be his replacement. He never wanted us together, so he did everything he could to separate us. But it isn't going to work. What's meant to be is meant to be, Jack. We traveled back in time and the island did heal me. I am pregnant with your child and I need you to go home with me and be the father. I can't do this alone."

"I'm sorry," Jack suddenly said, his eyes full of tears. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for ruining us."

"You haven't ruined anything. Not yet," Alice assured him.

She was afraid. Her heart was beating way too fast. That was it. That was the one final moment and she couldn't do or say anything more to convince him. The rest was up to him. Was he going to go through with whatever she'd interrupted? Or was he going to leave the island with her?

Jack released his hold on the cup and it fell to the ground, spilling water. In no time, he was right by Alice's side, grabbing her face and kissing her. And it was like coming out for fresh air. It was as though she didn't come alive until he kissed her. He might've revived her back on the beach, but she'd felt herself to be dead. Now he was finally putting the life back into her by kissing her with so much love and passion and desperation that nothing else mattered, not even the danger they were still in and the current lack of an actual replacement. Only them mattered. Reunited. Together. Finally where they belonged. With each other.

"I'll do it," they suddenly heard Hugo saying and that finally caused Jack to stop kissing Alice. He put his arm around her, though, never wanting to let her go ever again.

"Hurley, you were the one who didn't want to volunteer," Jack reminded the guy. "It's all right. You don't have to..."

"You have a wife, Jack," Hugo said when making his way to his friends, "and I don't. I can do this. You take her home and be a good husband and a great dad for me. Mine left me and didn't show up until I grew up. You can't do that to this baby."

Jack just nodded, too touched to say anything, but his eyes told Hurley everything the guy needed to know. Then Hugo hugged Alice, James and Kate and finally, he stood in front of Jacob who was by now holding the cup again, full of freshly poured water. The new replacement took it and drunk it all. Just like that, he was the protector of the island and Jacob disappeared.

When they came back to the place Alice had found James, Kate and Hurley earlier, the fire had burnt out.

"What next?" Jack asked when still holding on to his wife, still overwhelmed by the news and by everything she'd told him and by the fact that the barrier he'd raised between them seemed to be gone now and they belonged to each other again.

"We need to find Locke and kill him," Hugo decided. "This has to end. And we'll do that by going to the bamboo forest. Jacob said you know where it is, Jack. He said you landed there the first time you got here."

Jack nodded. "Then let's go."

"There's light there," Hugo continued, "and Locke wants to put it out. We need to find Desmond, too."

"I'll go get him," James offered. "Where is he?"

"In the old well. Without him, we can't defeat Locke," Hurley informed. "Maybe if we let him put the light out, he'll be able to die."

"That's a lot of ifs, Hugo," Jack said, but didn't argue with the new protector's decision since he didn't have a better plan himself.