Widmore's men led them across the island to two cages, that Lena remembered Kate telling her about when the Others had captured her, Sawyer, and Jack so long ago.

"I am not going back in there," Sawyer said as soon as he saw the cages, backing away quickly.

"Well, I have the gun-" One of the men started to say. However, he was interrupted by Sawyer punching him in the face and grabbing the gun from his hands.

"Not anymore," Sawyer replied, pointing the gun at the man. Lena drew her sword, which was still in her sheath since none of Widmore's men dared to come close to it. However, they were still outnumbered, and their situation was made painfully clear when a gunshot rang out through the air and Charles Widmore himself approached, holding a gun to Kate's head.

"Drop your weapons!" Widmore yelled. "Put them down or I'll kill her."

"If you were going to kill us, you would have done it already," Lena reasoned. "I think you're bluffing."

"I have a list of names," Widmore explained. "Ford is on it, as are Reyes and the Kwons. Kate Austen is not, so it does not matter whether she lives or dies."

Lena sighed, but she slid her sword back into her sheath, not wanting anyone to get hurt. They had been so close to escaping the island, but things just had to get even more complicated.

Sawyer dropped his gun as well, and once they were all weaponless, the group was locked in the cage.

"You may not believe this, but I'm doing this for your own good," Widmore said before walking away to give orders to the rest of his people. Lena highly doubted that he was telling the truth, but maybe, between him and Locke, he was the lesser of two evils.

Still, they were locked in a cage so that didn't exactly help.

Maybe Lena could manage to break out of the cage, and maybe even get her friends out too, but they were outnumbered by Widmore's people. The only thing that could defeat them all easily was-

Whoosh! The lights flickered for a moment and then turned off completely, plunging them all into darkness. Even still, Lena could see Widmore's people freaking out, and for good reason.

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.

"It's here," She whispered.

"Oh no," Lapidus groaned from the front of the cage. The familiar noises that signaled the smoke monster's approached filled Lena's ears, as the whooshing grew louder and louder as it came closer and closer.

"And… we're dead," Hurley sighed. Lena glanced up sharply, but knew that he was right. Locke wasn't going to stand for their betrayal.

She put a hand on her sword, which Widmore's people hadn't managed to take away. She still felt that there was something holding her back from unleashing her full power on Locke, but she was going to have to put whatever that was aside in order to save her friends and herself from what was coming.

Widmore's people, meanwhile, had opened fire on Locke, but their efforts were in vain, as he swept through their ranks and shut them down easily.

There was a loud scream as one man smashed into the bars of the cage, probably having been thrown by the smoke monster. He was dead before he even hit the bars.

"I think I can reach the keys!" Kate exclaimed, her arm grabbing at the keys that hung from the man's corpse. She grasped at them, unable to get a firm grip.

Lena had started attempting to cut the lock, but even her sword couldn't cut through the thick metal.

"Kate, hurry up, he's coming for us next," Lena warned after accepting that she couldn't use her sword to get the door open.

"I-I can't reach it," Kate gasped, although her hands were nearly at the keys. Suddenly, as soon as she had almost gotten ahold of them, a different hand grabbed them and unlocked the cage in one fluid motion.

It was Jack, as stereotypically heroic as ever, unlocking the door and letting them out of the cage. Still, as cliche as his actions could be, Lena wasn't going to complain.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked. "I thought you went back."

"I'm with him," Jack explained, gesturing to the smoke monster that was wreaking havoc above. "Come on."

Lena, while shocked that Jack and Locke were working together, knew that following Jack to the jungle was a much better idea than staying where either Widmore's people or Locke could easily kill them.

…

"How much farther to the plane?" Jack asked, turning to look as Lapidus and Sun, the only ones who had been there when it landed. It was the day after, and they had been walking to the plane for hours.

"I'd say about a quarter mile," Lapidus answered. Jack nodded, and turned around to keep walking, talking to Kate as he did so.

Lena was surprised that Locke hadn't killed them after they stole the boat and left, but she really didn't understand anything he did, and she certainly wasn't going to try.

All of a sudden, there was a loud rustling in the bushes to their left. The entire group turned, including Lena, who whipped her sword out of it's sheath, wondering if some of Widmore's people had actually managed to survive.

However, it was Sayid who emerged onto the path, taking in the fact that everyone was there. Despite everything, a shadow of a smile formed on Lena's face. He was alive, and maybe even on their side.

"It's okay!" Jack yelled upon seeing part of the group pointing their weapons at Sayid. "He's with us, he's the one who turned off the power generators."

"Great," Sawyer muttered, not sincere but not sarcastic either.

"We need to go," Sayid said. "Locke is waiting."

At the last part, Lena's sort-of smile disappeared. He was still on Locke's side.

And yet… there was something in his eyes, something that didn't quite match his words. Maybe she was imagining it, maybe it was false hope, but maybe it was real.

They arrived at the Ajira plane a few minutes later, where Locke had apparently already killed the people guarding it.

"Widmore knew I would kill these men," Locke announced, standing on the ramp to the plane's entrance.

"What?" Sawyer asked after seeing the dead bodies.

"They were only guarding it for show," He explained. "If Widmore wanted to keep me from getting on board, he wouldn't have moved his fences."

"I thought he didn't want us to leave the island," Lena questioned. "Did he change his mind?"

"Not at all," Locke replied. "He wants us all in the same place, at the same time. A confined space where we can't get out, and then he'll kill us."

After he was finished speaking, Locke removed something from his bag, which Lena could see was C4 that must have been planted on the plane.

"I found these in the overhead compartments, wired to the electrical system of the plane. If we turned it on… boom."

Widmore was smart, very smart. But Locke was even smarter, and that made him the more dangerous of the two.

"What now?" Jin asked quietly, standing close to Sun.

"The plane isn't safe, we don't know what else he's hiding," Locke answered. "We need to take the submarine and leave."

Lena had one hand on her sword, and her eyes flicked between her friends and Locke, wondering what they were going to do.

"It will be heavily defended, so we're going to need everyone," Locke continued, his gaze going across the group, especially to the fighters.

"I'll help you," Jack began. "But I'm not going with you." Lena glanced at him, puzzled. She knew that Jack had been working with Locke, but she though that was all a means to an end.

Unless Jack had a plan.

…

"What do you mean, they all escaped?" Lena exclaimed, nearly dropping her old cellphone that probably needed replacing. Miles had just called her and said that Sayid Jarrah, the murder suspect, Desmond Hume, the guy who turned himself in, and Kate Austen, a murderer on the run, had all escaped from being transported somewhere else.

"I don't know how it happened, but it did," Miles sighed on the other end. "Don't worry, someone else is taking care of it, I just thought I should let you know."

"Yeah, well, thanks," Lena replied. "Oh, enjoy your fundraiser or whatever it is you're going to."

"Thanks," He said. "Alright, I have to go. Bye."

"Bye." She said, hanging up the phone.

How had they all escaped? Someone must have had a hand in it, Lena just didn't know who.

She was nearly at her apartment when her cellphone rang again, and she assumed it was Miles again with an update, but when she looked at it, it was an unfamiliar number. Still, she accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Lena Hale Ashford?" Said a male voice. He sounded familiar for some odd reason, but Lena had no idea from where.

"Who's asking?" She replied. Of course, that was basically saying that yes, it was her, but in a slightly fancier way.

"My name is Hurley… and I know where one of the escaped criminals is," He explained. "I'll tell you where, I just need it to be only you."

"Uh, alright," Lena said hurriedly, surprised that such a tip was coming her way. "Just tell me where."

…

Lena was crouched behind the bushes, peeing at the dock that was surprisingly empty. Of course, none of them deduced that it was unguarded, assuming that Widmore had guards placed elsewhere.

The plan was to have Lapidus and Sawyer go in first, thinking that Lapidus was probably the only one who could operate the sub if he had to, and Sawyer was there to protect him. The rest of them waited a little bit after, just to make sure it was safe.

"Hey," Lena turned to her left to see Sayid, who had gently tapped her on the arm. "Whatever happens now, I just want you to know… I'm sorry."

A rush of emotions flowed through Lena. Those two words, two little words, said so much. Sayid had broken free of Locke's control.

"Let's agree to stop apologizing to each other, yeah?" Lena replied quietly. Sayid nodded, although it seemed that he had more to say.

"Alright," Locke announced, standing up. "Let's go." He had been talking to Jack, and he had paused to tell them that as he was walking to the dock.

Lena only turned around for a fraction of a second when she heard a loud splash. She whirled around to see Jack shoving Locke into the water and motioning for the rest of them to run to the sub.

Bang! A loud gunshot rang out through the air, followed by a cry of pain as it hit Kate in the shoulder. More gunfire followed from the treeline, Widmore's people having finally revealed themselves.

Lena, Sayid, Jack, and Claire all fired back, although Jack soon left the fighting to the three of them as he tried to lift Kate into the sub.

Widmore's soldiers started to approach the dock, getting closer and closer. Luckily for Lena, that was how she fought best.

She glanced over at Sayid and saw him running out of ammunition. Without a second's hesitation, she shoved her gun into his hands and pulled out her sword, cutting through Widmore's men as she attempted to avoid the gunfire heading her way. Sayid provided cover, shooting down the ones she couldn't reach and making sure she came out alive.

They were certainly quite the team.

"Come on!" Sayid yelled. He had abandoned the weapon and was helping Jack get the wounded Kate into the submarine, which Hurley, Jin, and Sun had already gotten into.

Lena backed away from Widmore's men and climbed down into the sub after Jack, Kate, and Sayid, landing on the metal ground.

"Lapidus, if you can hear me, dive!" Sawyer yelled as soon as she was inside, closing the hatch above her.

"Wait, Claire's still out there!" Hurley shouted back. Lena looked up sharply, but it was already too late. They were underwater, and they were diving fast.

Jack was helping Kate, who was protesting that they had to go back for Claire. However, even she knew that there was no way to go back without facing Locke.

Jack reached into his backpack, probably to grab the first aid kit, when he suddenly froze with terror.

"Jack?" Lena asked. "What happened."

In response, Jack slowly pulled out a bomb, with a timer ticking down, just past four minutes.

"Dude," Hurley began worriedly. "Where did that come from?"

"Locke," Jack replied. "We did exactly what he wanted." With horror, Lena realized that Jack was right, and Locke had practically told them his plan when they were at the plane.

"We have to get to the surface now!" Jack exclaimed, nodding to Jin, who was standing near the submarine's intercom. He relayed the information to Lapidus, and Lena could feel the submarine take a turn upward.

"Jack, how did that get here?" Hurley repeated, still not quite understanding exactly what it was that Locke had done.

"Locke put it here," Jack answered quickly. "He wanted us to leave without him. Look, is there any way we can turn this thing off?"

The timer was at 3:08, and the seconds were counting down. If they couldn't get to the surface in time, then they all had three minutes to live.

"The watch is rigged to the battery," Sayid explained as he studied the bomb closely. "The battery detonates the explosives. If we disconnect these wires, then technically speaking, the bomb should be inactive."

"Technically?" Lena echoed.

"You have to pull them out simultaneously, and I'm not sure…" Sayid trailed off, his mind clearly racing to find some sort of a solution.

"Step aside, I got this," Sawyer said, moving towards the bomb and putting his hands on the wires Sayid had indicated.

"Wait, don't!" Jack shouted. "Don't do it, nothing will happen. We're fine."

"If I don't pull these wires, we're going to blow up!" Sawyer yelled back. Lena wasn't sure who to side with. Jack was right in that Locke and Jacob had all sorts of rules and that nothing might happen, but if he was wrong…

"Locke wanted this," Jack said. 2:27 was left on the timer, and soon, it wouldn't matter what they chose. "Everything he did was to get us here. Same place, same time, no hope of getting out. Locke can't leave the island without us, but what he meant is that we all need to be dead. He wants us to kill each other. If he wanted it to blow up, then why would he put a timer on it instead of throwing it inside?"

"Sorry doc, but I don't care," Sawyer replied. 1:54 left, and Lena was pretty sure Jack was right. She had never been a believer of the island by any means, but his argument made perfect sense.

"He can't kill us!"

"I won't do nothing!"

"You have to trust me, James," Jack said quietly, his eyes pleading. Sawyer looked around for a moment, and Lena thought that maybe he would leave it alone.

"Sorry, but I don't," Sawyer said, pulling the two wires at the exact same time. Lena let out a gasp, and she wasn't alone as time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Then the numbers started to tick again, only faster than before, making their impending doom much closer.

"Jack," Sayid said suddenly. "Listen carefully. There is a well on the island, about a half-mile south from Locke's camp. Desmond is inside. Locke wants him dead, which means you're going to need him. Do you understand?"

"W-why are you telling me this?" Jack asked, perplexed.

"Because it's going to be you, Jack."

Sayid grabbed the bomb, and before anyone could do anything, he ran as fast as he could to the other side of the submarine, carrying it with him.

"Sayid!" Lena screamed, trying to move forward-

Boom.