Eko's funeral was small. Only a few other people other than the ones who had gone to the Pearl station were there, those people being Desmond, Charlie, and Hurley.
"What happened to him?" Nikki asked. Lena had forgotten that most people from the crash didn't know about the smoke monster, or most of the other kind-of-unsolved mysteries.
"Must have been an animal. Maybe one of the bears." Locke lied. Lena wasn't sure why he wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't question it, as she was sure there was a good reason. "But we're going to bury him here. He- he would have wanted that. And there's been too many funerals lately. No one needs to see him like this. I can go back to the beach and get a few shovels."
"I'll come with you." Sayid said quickly. Clearly he, for one, wanted to know why Locke was lying about the smoke monster, and he probably wanted answers about other things.
Locke wasn't really in a position to argue, but he still protested that a bit. However, in the end, Sayid won, and the two of them left to go to the beach.
…
Despite it being small and not many people being there, Eko's funeral was still quite a sad event. Locke seemed particularly affected by it, which somehow made it worse, since not much fazed John Locke.
"When the hatch exploded, your prayer stick fell out of a tree right on top of me." Locke began. "So, Sayid and I came out to get it, because it didn't seem right to bury you without it. I'd like to think you died for a reason, Mr. Eko. I just hope that it's not too long before we find out what the heck it might be. Rest in peace, Mr. Eko. Thank you for helping me find my…"
But Lena never did find out what Eko helped Locke find. For, as Locke placed the prayer stick on the freshly dug and then filled-in grave, he saw something. Something that seemed very important.
…
Lena was having a bad day. Scratch that, a bad month. Well, more like a bad year.
Lena was having a bad life.
She did what most people would do: She drank her sorrows away. In her case, it was at a local bar in New York City, where she was currently living in a crappy apartment and working at a grocery store. She knew that there were plenty of ways that she could make money, but she didn't want to do that anymore.
But apparently, all that was going to change.
"You have quite the reputation, Miss Ashford." Drawled a cold voice from behind her. She stiffened, but tried to not show fear as a man in a large trench coat sat down next to her. He had a slight British accent, and he kept his face shrouded.
"I wasn't aware that I even had one, Mr…" Lena trailed off. She was going to save herself with sarcasm. Wow, great plan, she thought to herself.
"I'm going to get right to the point, Miss Ashford." The man said, not bothering to tell her what his name was. "I work for a man named Charles Widmore, you may have heard of him. We've been looking through many possible candidates, and you are our number one pick for this job."
Lena had not, in fact, heard of anyone named Charles Widmore, but his name alone sounded evil. She decided to not say anything and let the man finish speaking.
"Mr. Widmore wants you to sabotage a boat race." The man continued. "I know, it sounds odd, but that is what he wants. The contestant in particular is a man called Desmond Hume. Mr. Widmore would like for you to, on the day of the race, damage his boat."
Don't do it, Lena said to herself. But, a small voice in the beak of her mind thought differently. It was like in movies, where there was an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.
"What will happen if I don't agree?" Lena asked quietly. "Will Charles Whatever-his-name-is kill my family or something?"
"Oh, of course not." The man replied. "He's seen your file, and he knows your life is rather miserable already. There's only so much misery one can take. But you haven't answered my question, Miss Ashford. Will you do it?"
Lena thought, and she thought hard. Why should she hurt this man in a sailing race just to make her life a little better for a small amount of time?
"No." Lena whispered. "I can't do this." She grabbed her jacket and walked out of the bar as quickly as she could, leaving the man behind. Lena never saw him again, which was fine with her.
But the next week, she took another job from a different man. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't change herself, and she couldn't change her desire to be in action.
…
It was really good to have at least one of the so-called leaders back. Well, two actually. Sayid and Locke had taken charge, and Lena gladly gave up her authority. She had no idea how Jack had managed it all the time.
"Lena!" Sayid called out. "I need your help with something." Lena jogged over to where he was standing, happy that she could do something. Even though she didn't want to leave, she didn't want to be completely useless, either.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Hurley says he found some kind of van in the jungle." He replied, sounding kind of irritated. "I was wondering if you ever encountered anything like that."
"If I saw a van, I'm pretty sure I would have told someone." Lena said. And, while Sayid seemed annoyed by the whole thing, Lena was intrigued. A van wouldn't really be good for going around in the jungle, but on the island, she never really knew. "I think-"
But Lena never did get to say what she thought, because at that moment, the sound of someone exiting the jungle could be heard. Even though it was probably someone from their group, Lena could never be too careful, so she walked over to see who it was.
And, as the two figured emerged from the jungle, it became clearer and clearer as to exactly who it was. And, when she finally got the answer, Lena was utterly astonished.
"Sawyer? Kate?"