Thanks for the reviews. 4 out of 114, though -- I'm never gonna win, am I? I'd really like to make it to 300 this time... ;)

Chapter 27. Danielle

"Excuse me?" Sayid asked, looking taken aback as the woman circled them, pointing the butt of her riffle directly at his head.

"You should not have come," the woman repeated, narrowing her eyes, and Kate gripped Jack's hand tighter, rattled by the unhinged look she could see in them, as if she were liable to snap at the slightest provocation.

Beside them, she felt Charlie tense, but if Sayid was afraid, he didn't let on. "Who are you?" he asked defiantly, daring her to shoot him. "What have you done with our people?"

The woman let out a sardonic laugh, releasing the trigger enough to make even Sayid flinch and close his eyes in anticipation. "You think you can trick me into sparing you," she said, her cold, blue eyes seeming to stare right through him as she cocked her head to one side like a dog. "But I know who you are. You took my Alex."

"We didn't take anyone," Charlie yelled, blanching when she took a step closer, training her gun on him instead. "We were in a plane crash. We're just trying to get home."

The woman cocked her head again, considering this, but no sooner had she begun to lower her defences than she brought them back up, her expression darkening with indignation. "I don't believe you," she said, and Kate was afraid that she was really going to kill him for his insolence. "You're one of Them – the Others. You all are. You know where Alex is."

"We don't know anything," Jack agreed, releasing Kate's hand, and she shot him furious look, willing him not to do anything stupid, anything that she, at least, would live to regret. "He's telling the truth. All we want is to get to the radio tower so that we can unblock the signal."

On her other side, Kate heard Sayid suck in a sharp breath; Jack was taking a pretty big risk, filling this strange woman in on their plans. If she was really one of Them, she could make sure that her people got there first, ruining any chance they had of replacing the outgoing call.

It was a risk, but a calculated one; the woman turned her gun on Jack, but her hand faltered on the trigger as she stared into him, her expression lightening with amazement. "I haven't been able to get a new message out in sixteen years," she said. "I thought it was you blocking the signal."

"You're the French woman – you made that distress call," Sayid said, voicing the realisation at the same moment that it occurred to Kate. Charlie's eyes widened in understanding, but judging by the lack of surprise on Jack's face, he'd already drawn this conclusion.

That was why he was okay with mentioning the radio tower, Kate realised. He wanted her to know that they all shared a common goal.

"Yes," the French woman agreed, lowering her riffle with a soft chuckle, half bitter, half amused. "My husband and I were scientists. Our vessel was shipwrecked on this island sixteen years ago. When I found the radio tower, I recorded that call, but no one came."

The wistful expression that had crept onto her face as she was talking about her past turned to one of contempt as she added to Jack, no longer seeming to believe that he was one of Them, "What makes you think it will be any different for you?"

"I believe it," Jack said, ignoring the dubious look Kate shot him, along with Sayid and Charlie.

But as hard as Kate found it to agree with him, she knew that he was right. He had to believe it. They all did.

"Your plane really crashed here?" the French woman checked, fixing each of them in turn with that penetrating stare, as if she were trying to see into their minds.

"Yes," Sayid agreed, and Charlie added, his colour returning, "We can show you the wreckage if you like. Half the bloody plane's back on the beach."

The French woman nodded seriously, ignoring Charlie's offer. "Then I will take you to the radio tower. You can try for yourself, although I doubt it will do you much good."

Without waiting for them to respond, she set off, her silhouette flashing through the trees almost twenty paces ahead of them by the time they were all moving again. As scary as she was, somehow, it made Kate feel safer to have her on their side, although she couldn't help wondering what had happened to her husband, and everyone else on board. Had the so-called "Others" taken him as well? Was that why she'd asked them about "Alex"? Or was there a more sinister explanation, like there was for the pilot?

The sun was beginning to set by the time they broke through the jungle, stepping out onto the open ground where the radio tower loomed.

"There," the French woman said, pointing to it before heading back into the trees without so much as a goodbye.

After sixteen years of living alone on an island, Kate noted wryly, it seemed that her conversational skills left a lot to be desired. She hadn't spoken more than two words to any of them since they'd left the bunker, and even then it was only "This way" or "Hurry".

"Wait," Jack called, and she stopped, turning back to him with an irritated, impatient look. "We don't even know your name."

She hesitated for a moment, then her expression relaxed as she gave him a tiny, grateful smile that made Kate's heart ache for her. It must have been awful for her, being so cut off from the rest of the world. Even she couldn't imagine being that alone. "It's Danielle – Danielle Rousseau."

"Thank you, Danielle," Jack said with a friendly nod, which she returned curtly before fading back into the jungle.

"Can you imagine living like that?" Kate asked him as they followed Sayid and Charlie up the hill that separated them from the radio tower. "Being alone on an island – not seeing anyone, or talking to anyone, for sixteen years? No wonder she's a little crazy."

"No," he agreed, sliding an arm around her waist, and kissing the top of her head when the others' eyes were focused on the path ahead. "Fortunately, I can't. Not anymore."

Emboldened by this renewal of his declaration, she stopped, pulling him to a stop alongside her, her hands moving up to his jaw as she met his lips in a slow, tender kiss that had to be cut short when Sayid turned around to see what was taking them so long. Jumping back guiltily, like teenagers sprung at a school dance, Jack's arms slid from around her waist as they released each other reluctantly, hurrying to catch up.

By the time they reached the top of the hill, Sayid had let himself and Charlie into the station at the bottom of the tower, and was surveying the controls.

"Think you can get it to work?" Jack asked, still flustered from the kiss, and their sprint up the hill, but doing his best to hide it.

Sayid gave them both a slightly disapproving look as he glanced from one to the other. "The system itself is basic enough, it's just unblocking the signal that may prove problematic," he said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Jack pressed, managing, somehow, to maintain an air of professionalism while Kate felt an embarrassed blush creep into her cheeks.

Charlie, too, had noticed, it seemed, watching the exchange with an amused grin.

"You can gather some firewood," the Iraqi agreed, turning back to the controls, seeming to prefer to work unhindered by conversation. "We're going to have to make camp here for the night."

Next chapter: Sayid delivers the verdict on the radio tower and they make camp... ;)