Alex got used to the new Dr. Linus. He was still Dr. Linus, still sweet and intent and occasionally funny, but sometimes he had a sarcastic edge to him that was unexpected and rather delightful, and the sadness rarely left him. It did when he sat at the dinner table with her and her mom laughing about something she or her mom had said, and then it would come back in a rush, as if whatever it was they were laughing about was the very thing that made him sad. Sometimes she thought there was fear there, too. It was because of that that she told him one day about what made her afraid.

"I keep having these nightmares. I'm running around in this jungle, with a gun, trying to protect someone who's in danger. Once I thought it was Karl, but that's just, you know, real stuff intruding in my dreams. And my mom is there, only she's not my mom but some stranger. And you're there, and you're tied to a tree, and some guy is trying to kill you."

His face was very quiet. "What do you think it means?"

"Does it have to mean something? Unless I've psychically deduced that the mob is after you, or something. Somebody doesn't want to kill you, right?"

"Not anymore," he said dryly. "When you're running in the jungle, who are you running from?"

"I don't know. Someone I know really well. Someone I hate. But I don't hate him, at the same time, because I feel really guilty for running and for trying to protect whoever I'm trying to protect."

"Do you know what it means, that you hate him and don't hate him?"

"No…It's like, I just wish he'd understand. I wish he would be normal instead of being weird and scary. I wish he'd pay attention to me instead of his stupid Island!" When tears poured down her face, she wiped them away with some astonishment. "What on earth? This is dumb. It's a dream."

"When you feel this strongly about something, it's not just a dream. It really means something to you, and you should try to find out what."

"Dr. Linus," she whispered, "I think he's my dad."

His face went white. "Your—Robert?"

"No, not him. Some other dad, the way my mom is Danielle Rousseau in the dream but isn't my mom."

"Interesting. Well, for the record, I'm certain that whoever it is in the dream eventually wishes he'd paid attention to you instead of to the Island."

Alex had to grin. "Dr. Linus, it's a dream. You can't predict it like a story or history."

He only raised his eyebrows. "It's only logical that with a daughter like you, he'd have to be a fool if he didn't realize that eventually. Even if it is just your own dream."

That made her feel ridiculously warm inside. But he still hadn't asked her mom out.