Sayid came back to the camp in the late afternoon most days this week. He had been trying to find Danielle again. He knew it was dangerous and nearly impossible, since she didn't want to be found, but he knew he had to try, at least for a few days. Though some people thought he was just wasting time, he had seen Danielle talk about the others. He had to learn more about them; what they were doing here, why they've stayed hidden, and if he was incredibly fortunate, maybe even find out where they were. He knew that Danielle had this information, and he needed it, for Claire and Charlie, for the rest of the survivors, but more selfishly, for himself. He had to know the secrets of the island. The mystery of the place had been driving him insane. Locke knew things that he wouldn't tell. Sayid had tried talking to him, tried making him reveal… whatever he was hiding. It hadn't worked.

The sun was going down, weak rays of light were painted on the trees and leaves. When he reached the caves, people were already setting up a fire. Normally, he would have helped, but he had to talk to Jack. He came in through the cave opening. Claire was sitting on the floor, cross-legged and reading a book.

"Hello, Claire." He said, distractedly, scanning the cave.

"Hi… I'm sorry… Sayid?" She said, looking up from her book.

"Yes. Have you seen Jack, by any chance?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, he's just over there." She pointed to the corner of the cave, to where Jack was crouching and talking to Hurley.

"Thank you." He said over his shoulder to Claire.

"I've picked up her trail. I could have confronted her today, but I decided to wait and talk first to you about it." Sayid looked at him seriously. Jack nodded for him to go on. "She's changed locations. It's obvious that she does not want to be found, and I told her I would respect that. But now, we need to know everything we can about the others. We want to be safe; we can't let this happen again. We need to know who Ethan is, and why he abducted Claire and Charlie. How many of them are there? Where do they live, why are they here? Why are we their enemies? If they are going to attack us, we need to be prepared, and we need to put an end to it." Sayid finished, with an intent expression on his face.

Jack nodded again, but didn't say anything. It was true they needed to know all they could about the others. But he was worried about what would happen when they did. He wondered if they meant to kill all of them. Even Danielle was dangerous. There was no telling what she would do when Sayid found her again. He knew, though, that Sayid was willing to take any risks necessary for a cause he found worthy. Finally, Jack said,

"I thought you said she hadn't ever seen them."

"She hasn't, but…" Sayid hesitated. "Jack. She knows more about the others than we could ever find out on our own. She's been here sixteen years. And she knows more than she said to me, I'm positive."

Jack thought about this for a long while before he said anything. Staring into the flames of the fire, he wondered what the consequences were if Sayid spoke to Danielle again. Then he wondered what they were if they just ignored the threat of the others. It was impossible to tell which was worse.

"Okay, Sayid. Okay. We need to know."

"So, yes, then?"

"Go find Danielle."