Locke watched as Jack crouched down next to Sayid, checking for a pulse. He looked up at them and nodded, some of the fear leaving his eyes; "he's breathing, he's only unconscious. Going to be fine."

Locke's mind flashed back to when he had attacked Sayid; to the rabid desire to stay on the island, to retain the use of his legs and to attain the bigger purpose that he had been searching for since he had learned that his parents hadn't wanted to keep him. But all that had achieved was Boone's death and a button that appeared to be growing more and more pathetic than with each one hundred and eight minute iteration.

"He was just walking around…" Sawyer looked worried and Locke wondered why, Sawyer's animosity towards Sayid was well known.

"He's got a concussion. He'll need to go back to camp, stay awake and be watched over. I'll check over him once I've got Aaron back."

"You're not going back with him?"

"No Locke; I need to get Aaron back. Sawyer can take him back."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Locke can track." Locke picked up on the regret in Jack's voice in the statement and wondered if he was imagining it; perhaps Jack didn't regard him the way that Locke thought that he did. There was a small chance that he had become so accustomed to being taken advantage of, being abandoned, being ridiculed that he now expected it. He decided that he would try to change that somehow, try to connect with the survivors again, especially Jack.

"Sawyer!" Jack's voice was rising and Sawyer crouched down next to Sayid's body, picking him up. Jack appeared to calm down once being obeyed and nodded at Sawyer, "you think you can make it all the way back?"

"Yeah."

Locke looked up at the sky, "it isn't going to rain anytime soon. You should be able to just follow the footprints back to camp." He waited for Sawyer's reaction, hoping that it would be positive. He had enjoyed talking to him before Sayid had collapsed, although, if he admitted the truth to himself, he would have enjoyed talking to anyone. He had not been sure how Sawyer had viewed the conversation however.

"Thanks." It was a gruff reply and it sounded forced but Sawyer left it at that, turning around and heading back in the direction of the camp.

Locke walked to the front of the group again, continuing to track, biting down on the sides of his mouth in an attempt to stop the smile breaking out across his face from Sawyer's answer.

"It isn't a good thing."

"What?" He stopped, turning around to see Jack looking annoyed.

"It isn't a good thing that Sayid is hurt."

"I never said that it was."

"Really? Because in my opinion people only smile when they are happy."

He wondered whether he should admit the truth to Jack; tell him that he was actually smiling because somebody had been kind to him for the first time since Boone's death. Thinking about Boone however made the smile fall instantly and he remembered his pledge to himself that he was going to try and associate more with Jack, fix the rift that was steadily growing between them.

"I'm sorry Jack. I was thinking about something else that was making me smile but it was very inappropriate of me, given the circumstances. Shall we continue tracking?"

Some of Jack's annoyance had fallen, replaced with a mixture of confusion and smugness. "Yeah."

Locke continued going along the track, wondering if he had begun to succeed in his plan when he held up a hand to signal Jack and Kate to stop. He moved back to Jack, walking quietly so as to not disturb the leaves that littered the floor.

"I just saw a shadow, human shaped, walking down that way," he pointed and when Kate opened her mouth to speak he put a finger up against his lips to tell her not to, "we should be able to track her, but she might be leading us into a trap." He looked pointedly at Jack, "you have to tell us what to do."

Jack barely seemed to think about it, "we follow her."

Sawyer made his way onto the beach, resisting the urge to drop the still unconscious Sayid the moment he arrived. He was tired and the journeys had taken their toll on his chest and stomach muscles, making them ache even further. A few people rushed over to him, obviously expecting Aaron and the rest of the group, their faces falling when they saw Sayid.

Sawyer trudged over to near a fire, lying Sayid down before sitting down himself, almost collapsing. He heard someone come over to him and turned to see Eko crouch down next to Sayid.

"Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine. He's just unconscious. Jack said to watch him and keep him awake until he gets back."

"He is not coming back now?"

"No," Sawyer couldn't keep the aggravation out of his voice, "the merry hunters are still out looking for babies."

Eko chuckled lowly, "do not feel bad James. You have been useful by bringing him back."

Sawyer was about to tell him that it was bad enough having one person on the island calling him by his birth name, let alone two but before he could say anything, he saw Sayid stirring.