Author's notes: Finally an incident from Chapters 3 and 4 is reexamined by Michael. To the reviewers, thanks again for the reviews and ideas!

Michael starts planning another resuce mission and has a heart-to-heart with Locke.

Michael slept very badly the night after he led the effort to free Locke from the rockslide. There was just too much going on to comprehend. Was that really Walt down in the mines sending a message? Locke seemed sure. It would have to be an extremely elaborate ruse if that wasn't the case. Kate had told Michael that the first thing the message sender asked after transmitting his name was "How is Dad?" That's just what Walt would do, thought Michael.

Michael replayed the horrible night and day following the kidnapping over and over in his mind. He was forming a genuine bond with his son, and his happiest moment came when Walt told him that Susan was wrong for completing shutting him out of Walt's life. Then several hours later began the absolute worst day of his life by several orders of magnitude. The pure agony of helplessly watching Walt being spirited away, followed by the ordeal of patching up what he and Jin could of the raft, and desperately attending to Sawyer's bullet wound. Then there was the difficult journey back, fighting the waves and the low afternoon sun as they approached the island, and sailing along the west edge until they came close to the beach camp where they landed, and then that hike in the dark to that campsite.

No, something was wrong with that picture. Some trivial incident that Michael didn't pay any attention to at the time. Similar to a work of art that had the light shining from the wrong direction. Then it dawned on him. The current had taken them west. If they had to sail to the east to reach the island, how could they be fighting the afternoon sun? Michael remembered squinting while looking toward the island, but why? The sun couldn't have come from that direction – it must have been a reflection. But how? There shouldn't have been any reflecting material on that mountain. It would have to have been man-made, like a mirror or glass. But still, it would have been a tremendous long shot for an object like to be in exactly the right position to reflect the sun's rays – unless it had been done deliberately. But why would anyone do that?

A chill went through Michael, as he came up with an explanation. The reflection was meant to get his attention, but there was only person with that motive. It seemed unlikely, but somehow Walt may have gotten up in or on that mountain with something that could reflect sunlight. It only lasted a fraction of a second, which made sense; the Others would never give Walt a long time to do something like that. Apparently they hadn't allowed him a long time to send the message through the rock; Kate had indicated that no messages came from Walt's end after the one asking how his Dad was.

Much too anxious to sleep now, Michael reasoned more things out. That powerboat had to have docked somewhere, and all indications was that it was along the rugged northern shore of the island. His search party with Jin, Sun, Sayid, and Shannon hadn't turned up any evidence of a boat landing, so logic dictated that it must be somewhere along the north edge that they couldn't reach by foot. Now that mountain where the reflection came from was on the western edge of the north shore. That should narrow the search down significantly. Maybe it would not, but that should be the place to start. Probably there was some hidden waterway in that area. Then what? Some passages, one up the mountain, and another underground into the caves? Or perhaps an overland route up the mountain? Michael remembered the well-constructed tunnels connected to the hatch. It looked like some powerful machine made them; if that was the case, then a path up the interior of the mountain was not far-fetched.

But he had to get back on the mission at hand. Would he have to build yet another raft to search for the presumed boat entrance? A raft like the ones he had engineered would not be a suitable choice for that. It would be too large and easily spotted, and not sufficiently maneuverable. No, he needed something much smaller, like a canoe. But that might not fare well in rough waters. What did natives who lived in the general do for centuries? Of course, they made outrigger canoes for stability. The plan was forming in his mind.

After more thought, he realized that he and a few friends couldn't simply barge in. The Others obviously had guns. So did the castaways, but there were only four left now that Sawyer had dropped one in the ocean, and they had a limited supply of bullets. Why did Charlie have to use so many bullets to kill Ethan? Furthermore, Michael was no gang-banger familiar with guns. Any target practice by him would deplete their precious bullet supply. He supposed he could leave shooting to Sayid, but Michael was going on the rescue mission no matter what. There was another source of weapons of the island, though … .

In the morning Locke insisted on going outside. He was not going to lie incapacitated in the caves all day. He could wheel his wheelchair around the caves where the ground was fairly smooth, but once outside the terrain was difficult. Consequently Hurley pushed the wheelchair around for Locke. As Hurley had some experience wheeling patients around in the psychiatric ward from his past, this arrangement worked out rather well. Still, Locke was miserable over the recent turn of events.

Hurley didn't know what to say, and Locke seemed to want to just sit there and reflect with a sour look on his face. They hung around in silence for some time, when the silence was broken by Michael, who came striding purposefully up the path they had come.

"Locke, I need to speak with you."

Since Hurley didn't hear his name mentioned in that statement, he guessed that Michael wanted to talk to Locke alone, and made up an excuse to go back to the caves. When Hurley was out of earshot, Michael spoke.

"Hey, I'm really grateful for what you tried to do, and I'm sorry this happened to you."

"The island is punishing me for my sins, Michael."

"Don't talk like that, man."

"It's true, Michael. And it's you I sinned against. I drove a wedge between you and Walt, something I had absolutely no right to."

"It's not all your fault. I should have spent a lot more time with him at the beginning. He made it so difficult, but I should have made a better effort. He didn't care for me at all; all he wanted was his dog. And we have you to thank for finding him. And you let me take the credit. Actually, I was thinking, I don't like lying to my boy. I'm going to tell him you were responsible for finding Vincent when I find him."

"You're his father; it's up to you to decide what to do regarding him." Locke paused. "You want to know the truth, Michael? Ever since I've been an adult I wanted a child of my own. I worked in a toy store for years just so I would have to chance to talk with children about subjects I like. But I could never form any meaningful relationship with a woman who might be a potential mother. My life was going nowhere when I found myself a survivor of this horrible plane crash. And then I was presented with this opportunity. Here was a boy who resented his father, and I butted in, making me his friend, teaching him things I would teach my own son. That incident with Vincent was to keep you from getting too upset with me. Still I had no business doing all that stuff with Walt, especially with the knives." Another pause, and, "So the island is punishing me for my mistakes."

"Hey, we all make mistakes here. I've made more than my share. I've jumped to conclusions and rushed to judgment, and have been in too many fights. But nothing was bigger than taking Walt along on the raft. It was much too dangerous. I should have let four others of us go, including Kate. And it's not just us, I'd say everyone here has made mistakes … even Walt. This island has put us all in an impossible situation; it would be extremely difficult not to make any mistakes."

"Do you mind if I ask what mistakes you think Walt has made? You can't hold a child to the same standard as adults."

Michael hesitated, and then continued, "Look, despite our past differences we both want Walt back. Our best chance is to be honest with each other. Walt may be ten but he's certainly old enough to know right from wrong, and he was wrong to … burn the first raft. And he was wrong to stand there and let Jin take an undeserved beating afterward, though I accept responsibility for that. At the time I still thought he had gotten off very easy for trying to kill me in front of Walt, and shoving Walt aside in the process."

Locke's facial expression didn't change. This lack of a reaction was not lost on Michael.

"You knew!" Michael exclaimed. "You knew, and didn't tell me! Did he tell you?"

"Walt didn't tell me; I only deduced it was he because nobody else had a motive. He didn't deny it when I asked him about it. But before you judge me for keeping that secret, ask yourself, who would you rather have heard the truth from, Walt or me?"

Michael knew that Locke was right. "While a bit sooner would have been preferable, of course I'd rather hear the truth from Walt."

"His need to confess to you was a part of his growing up. He will be a better man for it in the future."

"Yes, you are right. On that occasion he did need some growing up. Now what about this motive? Oh right, he told me he didn't want to leave, but changed his mind just before the second raft was complete. In fact he insisted on going."

Locke sighed. "I need to tell you this. Walt warned me about opening the hatch. I touched his arm, and he suddenly went into a creepy state like some trashy sci-fi flick, and announced, 'Don't open it.' I pretended not to understand, but he repeated that command. It couldn't have been anything other than the hatch, even though I don't think he ever saw it. But I ignored the warning, and look what's happened. I've become crippled and our friend Arzt is dead. If I hadn't insisted on opening it the science teacher wouldn't have been handling the dynamite. But that's not all. I hate to think about it, but after that rockslide incident I feel that the Others are doing something horrible to Walt. The only saving grace is that it's clear they want him alive."

"You think they're punishing him for communicating with you? I have to admit I think you're right. Walt is very tough, he's been through far more than enough for one lifetime, and he can handle it. You told me yourself there's something special about him." Michael couldn't be sure of that, but what else could he say?

Michael continued, "But I came to see you for a reason. I think the powerboat made landfall on the north side of the island, and I'm going after Walt there. The mines will be too well guarded after … this incident. But we need weapons, and we don't have a lot of guns and ammunition. Therefore – I want you to teach me how to throw knives."