Charlie burst into the cave camp, shouting, "Jack! Jack! Jack, he's back, and he wants Claire!"

"What!" Claire exclaimed, cradling her stomach and staring at Charlie, terrified, and then at Jack. "You said I'd be safe if I stayed here! You said I'd be safe!"

"Please, Claire, don't panic," Jack pleaded, "it's just Charlie. Charlie's a druggie, he's probably high or something, don't panic, please..."

"YOU SAID I'D BE SAFE!" she screamed, tears beginning to stream down her face, "YOU LIED TO ME! YOU SAID I'D BE SAFE IF I STAYED HERE! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU WANTED ME TO TRUST YOU! I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU LIED TO ME!"

"Claire, calm down, just calm down," Jack urged. "You're going to be alright, just calm down. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

"Jack! Jack!" Charlie ran to him and grabbed his shirt sleeve. "Jack, Ethan's back and he wants Claire. We have to do something, Jack!"

Claire looked from one face to the other, terrified. "He wants my baby!" she said, bursting into a new fountain of tears. "You're all trying to kill me!"

"No, Claire, you're going to be fine. Charlie, this is a really bad time." The doctor looked between the frantic faces, Charlie's shock, Claire's fear. "Talk to Locke about it. This is a really bad time. Please," he pleaded, "I just got her to trust me."

"I already talked to the people on the beach, they're here," Charlie said quickly as Locke, Sayid, Shannon and Kate appeared from between the trees. "Jack, the Halliburton case, where is it?"

Jack stared at him. "Who told you about the –?"

"Kate did. Where is it?"

At the mention of a Halliburton case Locke had pricked up his ears. "Halliburton? As in, one of those super-safe briefcases that they carry weapons in?" he asked, and both Jack and Charlie looked at him. Locke raised his eyebrows in interest.

Jack was trapped. "Yeah." he replied. "That kind." This, he knew, was what it felt like to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Locke was a skilled hunter – but he was also exceptionally sinister, and never gave out any information besides his name and the fact that he was a hunter who was looking for something precrash – and that it found him.

Locke turned his head to give Jack a questioning three-quarters view.

Jack sighed and exchanged glances with Charlie, who gave him an open stare. He glanced back at Locke. "Yeah." he said again. "That kind."

Locke nodded. "And where is this miraculous Halliburton case?" he asked.

Jack hesitated, swallowing, and then said, "Over here." He beckoned for Locke to follow him, and the hunter did so, but at a comfortable distance. Comfortable for Locke, at least. No distance that put him within earshot of Locke was comfortable for Jack.

Charlie turned to Claire. "Please," he told her, "stay safe."

"Please tell me you're raving on a high," she pleaded, but with one last sad glance at her, Charlie stood and followed Jack and Locke.

Jack popped open the case and picked up a gun. "There are only a few of them." he said, handing the gun to Locke, who went immediately to inspecting it. "We need to figure out who's going to have a gun and who won't."

"We need a plan," Locke told him.

Jack nodded in agreement. "That we do."

Michael sidled up to Jack and Locke and stared down into the case. "Damn," he swore quietly. "How long we had these?"

"Very recently," replied Kate.

"Can I use a gun, Dad?" asked Walt, glancing up at his dad and then back into the case.

"What? – No!" Michael ushered his son away from the Halliburton case. "That is one thing I will not let you do."

"That and everything else," growled Walt.

"Hey, watch it, little man." Michael scolded him, shaking a finger at him. "I've let you do a bunch of stuff your mother would kill me for."

"You don't know what my mom would do," Walt pointed out.

Michael was silent. "Go to bed." he demanded, pointing to the boy's cot.

Jack glanced over at the feuding family. "What do you think? Who needs a gun?"

Locke put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's too late to go out now. We need to go out when the sun first comes up." He stashed the gun in his pocket and turned toward his former companion. He opened his arms towards Boone again and smiled. "I'm back," he said.

Boone smiled a little, too. "Turns out you do need protecting after all." he joked. Locke looked up at the sky and Boone looked up, too. "It's gonna rain soon," Boone said.

"Early tomorrow," refined Locke. "Good job." He smiled at Boone, and Boone smiled back, his dead blue eyes lit up.

"I think it's time to sleep." Jack said. "The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we can go after Ethan."

"Good plan." agreed Locke, and Boone nodded.

Jack got down into his little bundle of rags and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be interesting...

Soon the only ones still awake were Boone and Locke. It surprised Boone; Locke never slept, or so it seemed. How did he manage? "You think he's around here?" asked Boone, the colors of the bonfire dancing in his undead blue eyes.

"I sure hope not," returned Locke truthfully, but without even a trace of fear in his voice.