Morning finally came, and Charlie was glad. It had been another long night full of restless wondering. When he had finally fallen asleep when the moon was high in the sky, Charlie dreamed of the abduction. There were images of the last things he saw before he was hung. Ethan, tying the rope around his neck, Charlie trying to get away. Hanging in a tree, gasping for breath, knowing he was dying. Seeing Claire tied up but safely on the ground gaping up at him with horror. Knowing she was in agony watching him. Then, nothing. Until he saw Jack above him, pounding his chest, finally being able to breath again.

Charlie sat up and looked about the cave. Everyone nearby was still asleep, probably having sweet dreams of being rescued or something, Charlie thought bitterly. Knowing it was useless to try to fall asleep, he got up, and made his way down to the beach to see if there was any fish, thinking about Claire and wondering if it was possible that she was thinking about him.

Claire was thinking about whether to run away while the two men were still asleep. She was trying to figure out where, if she ever decided, to go. Certainly not the forest again. That place was foreboding. She had heard whisperings in the dark all around her, though she was sure there was no one there. She had run around in circles in a panic, not knowing where she was or how she got there. Claire wondered if she was going crazy. The whisperings, these men who knew her name… and where exactly was she?

Finally, she decided to leave. The men had brought her out of the forest, but what would they do now? She didn't know anything about them, and somehow they knew about her… it scared her. She was better off without them.

She stood up with difficulty. The baby would come any day now; he said it would. She stopped in her tracks; her eyes open wide at her own thought. Who said the baby would come soon? How did she know that? A man told her… a doctor? She hadn't seen a doctor since about a week before she'd visited the psychic for the last time. More than ever, she wondered what was wrong with her. Frightened by her own self, she sat down again, and held her head in her hands, breathing deeply, trying to fend off the panic in her.

"Are you all right?" A voice said from behind her. She turned. It was the older man with the knife. He was smiling kindly at her. He stood over her with his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to reply.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." She said untruthfully.

"I see our guard hasn't done his job very effectively." He said, pointing over at the other man, who was still sleeping soundly against a tree.

Claire smiled weakly.

He sat down beside her companionably. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

She looked at him, giving it thought. "No."

"What is that last thing you remember before Boone and I found you?"

She shuddered. "I was in the forest, trying to find the way out for hours and hours. Maybe it went on for miles, or maybe I was circling myself, I don't know. I heard… weird noises. Whispers, even though no one was there. At least I don't think anyone was there." She nervously twirled her hair around on her index finger. "Am I going crazy?" she blurted out.

The man picked up a stick that had been lying on the sand. He pulled out his knife and began whittling away at it. It was a moment before he answered.

"No, Claire. I think you're very sane."

She began to get angry. "And another thing. How do you know my name? Why do you know me?"

"You know me, too, Claire." He said, not looking up from his work. "But for whatever reason, your mind has blocked me out." He stopped whittling and looked straight at her. There was no lie in his eyes.

"You mean, like memory loss?" she asked, pressing him for answers.

He nodded. Just then, there was a loud "Shit!" from behind them. Who Claire figured was Boone had woken up, and realized that he shouldn't have been sleeping. He stumbled over to them, blinking in the already strong sun. "Sorry, Locke. Sorry." He apologized.

"So, why did… what happened to me?" Claire asked, ignoring the interruption.

Locke gazed at her thoughtfully. "What do you remember from before the forest?"

Claire sat back, trying to dig through the fog in her mind. "My friend took me to see a psychic, and he told me to take my baby to Los Angeles… I packed up my stuff… I went to the airport… I was on the plane…" she stopped, realizing that was as far as she could go. "Oh my God." She said softly. "Did the plane crash?"

He nodded slowly. "You don't remember anything from between last night and the plane?" She shook her head mournfully, tears coming to her eyes. "You don't remember the crash? Jack? Shannon? Kate?" To each name, she shook her head. "Charlie?" he asked hopefully.

"No." Claire said, despair in her voice. "How long? How long has it been?" She squeezed her eyes shut, tears falling onto the sand.

"Twenty six days." Locke said. Claire opened her eyes again.

"Twenty six." She repeated hollowly.

"A lot has happened since then." Locke said. "We need to go back to camp soon, but first we'll fill you in."

Shannon was lying on the beach, soaking up the sun as usual. But she couldn't concentrate on the magazine she was reading. Granted, she'd read it at least five times already, since there were only a few to be found in the wreckage… but she was too worried about Boone. He hadn't come home again last night. This was the second time he had stayed out in the forest with that creepy guy Locke, and regardless of what people might say about Locke being safe, he seemed pretty crazy to Shannon. And ever since Boone had been spending every minute with him, he had been acting weirdly… almost as if he didn't care about her anymore.

Annoyed, she tried not to think about it any more. She sat up and scanned the beach. A ways down, the Korean guy was fishing and – she squinted to see so far – maybe Charlie was standing next to him. That was a weird pair. Charlie was probably just lonely, though. Ever since Claire disappeared… she sighed aloud and lay back down on her towel.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. She turned her head to watch. Far off was a small group of people... three or four. Boone and Locke, probably, but who was with them? Shannon sat up again, interested. She watched them come closer and closer. Definitely Boone and Locke… and someone in between them, with blonde hair… a woman… suddenly Shannon stood up, and ran to greet them. "Boone!" she screamed down the beach as she ran. "Hey, Boone!"

As she closed in on them, she realized she had been right. The blond woman was Claire. She stopped in front of them, out of breath. "Claire!" she gasped, smiling. She looked at Boone. "You guys found her!"

"Thanks, I know." he said as they continued walking. Shannon halted, hurt by the cold tone in his voice. She tried to shrug it off, and fell into step beside him. "So," she said, towards Claire, "Where were you all week?"

"I don't know." Claire said hopelessly.

"Yeah…" Shannon continued, missing the sadness in Claire's tone, "The jungle's so big, I guess I'd be pretty lost too. But what happened? Charlie said something about that guy Ethan, and - "

"Shannon?" Boone said icily, "Can you go do something useful and get Jack?"

She frowned at him. She angrily opened her mouth, ready to retort, but found she had nothing to say. She closed it, feeling stupid, and left them, stomping up the trail to the caves.

Claire watched her leave, wondering if she had once been friends with her. She felt very strange; meeting these people for the first time, knowing it wasn't really the first time.

"Can we pick up the pace?" Locke said. "I think it would be in Charlie's best interest if he didn't see you now. He's at the end of the beach."

Instead of walking faster, Claire tried to see Charlie. "Where?"

But Locke steered her gently up the path before he said another word. When they were safely from view of anyone on the beach, Claire asked, "Charlie's the guy I got kidnapped with?"

They nodded.

"And… why couldn't he see me just now?"

Locke smiled slowly, still looking ahead up the path. "He cares a lot about you. I think someone should tell him what happened before he talks to you." He said simply.

Claire continued to walk laboriously up the path, thinking of Charlie. She wondered if she had cared a lot about him too, whatever that meant.