Hurley was by the water, wringing out one of his shirts. He scanned the horizon aimlessly. Suddenly he began waving his arms excitedly, shouting, "Hey look!" He pointed out into the ocean. "Look!" Shannon stood up eagerly, now looking at the ocean too. "Is it a boat? Where?" she shouted back. She continued searching, but saw nothing except waves and sky. She looked at Hurley, who was laughing at her, bent over with his hands on his knees. His deep laugh irritated her to no end.

"Damn it!" Shannon screamed at him, turning red. "If you do that one more time, I'm going to kick your…" but she stormed away, not bothering to finish her sentence, furious that she'd fallen for Hurley's stupid joke for the second time that week.

Sayid clothes were soaked through with rainwater. It was just past dawn, and still dim in the forest. It had rained last night, a rare occurrence on the island. The Trees and bushes were still dripping. Dripping onto him. His clothes were soaked through, and since it was still early morning, it wasn't sweltering hot yet. Sayid shivered. He wondered if it was the first time that he'd ever been cold on this tropical island.

He knew he was close, very close to the hole in the ground that was Danielle's home. He stopped in front of a huge tree stump. This was where he had turned back yesterday. He was only five minutes or so from Danielle. He decided that it would be wise to hide the long, sharp knife that Locke had given him just in case… he put it in his belt loop like he would if it were a sword in a sheath, and made sure his shirt covered it. Determined, he struggled on through the dense foliage.

He stopped a couple of minutes later; his foot had been tangled in a vine. He bent down to free it, and didn't notice the figure in front of him until she said in a bonechillingly calm voice, "Ah, Sayid. Breaking promises, are we?"

He stood up, facing what he knew he would see; a fierce, angry looking Danielle.

"Danielle, I – "

"You listen to me! Listen!" Danielle screamed at him, so close to his face that he fought the impulse to step backwards. "I told you to leave, I told you to leave me alone! I want to be alone, I never wanted to see you again!" She spat her angry words at Sayid as loudly as she could. Then she jerkily spun around and headed away from him towards her home. "Follow me." She snarled ungraciously.

Sayid watched her climb down into her underground cave. He knew it was unwise to follow her into her home where there was no escape except the single traplike door. He also knew that if she had wanted, she could easily have killed him already with the gun that was attached to her belt loop. After only a moment's hesitation, he climbed down into the cave.

She was already sitting at her table and looking expectantly at him. He stood before her, waiting for her to speak. Finally, she said, "Well? Why are you here?"

Sayid sat down, knowing she would never ask him to. "Do you know Ethan Rom?"

Danielle made no effort to say anything, but she looked startled at the mention of Ethan's name. Gravely, looking off to the side, Danielle nodded slightly.

"How?"

She cleared her throat, still looking aimlessly around the room.

"Danielle, Ethan kidnapped two of our group. We don't know how or why. They're safe now; somehow they both got back alive, but they don't remember any useful information. We don't know where Ethan is, or what he'll do next… won't you help us?"

Danielle finally looked him in the eye. She had a defiant glare. "Why should I help you? I'm not a part of your group. None of your people are important to me."

"Just tell me what you know about Ethan and the others. Please, we need your help."

Just when Sayid thought she was going to pull out a weapon and smash him in the face, she instead collapsed onto the table and sobbed. Her flyaway hair was spread out around her, hiding her face. Her cries were noisy and agonized.

Sayid was never good at comforting. He waited for her to stop grimly.

Still covered by her hair, she said in a muffled voice, "I don't want to tell you anything."

Sayid clenched his fists underneath the table. "You're acting like a child." He said coldly. He had wondered if living alone for so long had affected Danielle's sanity. Now there was no doubt in his mind.

She slowly sat up and wiped her face. Staring at him intensely, she whispered, "Ethan… Ethan is…" but then she stopped, as if she realized that she had been about to tell a secret that wasn't supposed to be told. She bit her lip. She stood up and turned her back to him, rummaging for something on a shelf on the wall. "Come back tomorrow." She said briskly. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

Sayid stood up as well. "Danielle…"

She spun around. "You. Come back tomorrow alone and I will tell you what I know about Ethan." Then she firmly nodded to herself, and went back to looking for something on the shelf.

Sayid watched her for a moment, and then seeing that staying longer would be useless, soundlessly climbed up through the trap door and left.