Let's move on with it. How to get things moving on the island again? Maybe by getting things moving off-island! Time to bring back one of my all time favorite characters :) He gave me a new writing boost and this chapter was done really fast. Thanks to anyone who is still reading this.

He opens his eyes and stares right into Sayid's. "We have got to go now." The Iraqi always seems to have such a calm and determent way of communicating. How does he do that? Does he never worry? Does he not know doubt? Or fear?

He lifts himself from the ground and stretches his back quickly. Sayid hands him a torch. They walk quietly to the edge of their camp. There is Jack, Jin, Sun, Hurley. Sayid hands out orders. They will search in pairs, each pair heading out into a different direction. They will meet back here before dawn. He teams up with Jack. They head of to the Southern part of the island.

They don't speak much. Thank God there is no rain. They walk quietly, carefully placing their feet on the ground. He knows they are not alone here. Best not to draw attention. Suddenly Jack stops and quickly turns his head without moving his body, like an owl scanning the environment. He wants to ask him what is going on, but doesn't. Instead, he listens.

And then he hears it: the whispers. Distant at first but rapidly coming closer, until they are so loud he has to push his hands over his ears. He closes his eyes, unable to move. And what would be the point of moving anyway? This sharp sound seems to be all around.

After a while (how long? He can't tell) he removes his hands from his ears, slowly. Silence is back. The light coming from his torch is weakening. He looks up at where Jack is. But Jack's gone. He turns around quickly, moving in circles, holding his torch in front of him both for better vision as well as defense.

"Jack" he speaks out loud. No answer. "Jack!" he now screams. Nothing. He feels his heart beat speeding up, adrenaline being produced by the second. He knows he's afraid. And then he hears that god-awful familiar sound: a low, deep, heavy pounding. Like a giant elephant stepping through the jungle. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows what it looks like. And he knows it kills. That dark black smoke. He turns towards where he thinks their camp will be and runs.

London, middle of the night

A loud ringing noise filled the bedroom. It took him a few moments to fully wake up. He leaned over and moved his end to the other side of the bed. She was right there, stirring in her sleep. He felt relieved. He was home, not on the island. It was just a dream.

He turned around, towards his bedside table. His alarm clock read 2.14 AM. Who would call at this ridiculous hour? His hand reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello?" An anxious male voice. "Mr. Hume?"

"Yes." Desmond pushed back the blanket, got up and walked out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. Best to let Penny sleep.

"Who's this?"

"My name is David Reyes. Are you Desmond Hume?"

"Yes I am… how can I help you? It is the middle of the night here."

Desmond heard a woman's voice in the back. "Is it him? Is it the right one?" The man shushed her, mumbling back "Carmen. Please, let me talk to him."

He then seemed to turn his attention back to the phone call. "I am sorry for the late hour sir. I have to say, I didn't realize. I just … wanted to talk to you as soon as possible." The man paused for a few seconds. "As I said my name is David Reyes. I am Hugo Reyes' father. Hurley? I think you know him?"

No! That was Desmond's first thought. It had only been a few weeks since he had been standing in Eloise Hawking's 'office' with his previous fellow castaways. They had been determined to return to the island, for whatever reason. Desmond had refused. Days later a plane had crashed. Their plane. It was never found, just like Oceanic 815.

No! Whatever reason this man had for calling him… it had to do with the island. Desmond knew that instantly.

"Yes I know Hurley. Or I knew him."

"You were on that island with him?"

"Why are you calling me, Mr. Reyes?" Desmond asked without answering.

He heard a loud sigh. "I spoke to my son two weeks ago. He told me he is on that island again. He told me to get help. He gave me a name: a lady called Eloise Hawking. He said she could help them get off the island. He said she could get my son back home. I … spoke to her. She refused to help me."

Desmond remained silent. He felt a headache coming up.

"She told me that the only way to get to the island was if someone who had been there before was willing to go."

The headache was getting worse.

"She has been there before, Mr. Reyes."

"She said she can't leave. I didn't really understand her all that well to be honest. She said something about having to watch a station. She gave me your name."

She gave me your name. The headache had now spread to the inside of his ears and all he could hear was loud banging, like being next to speakers during a rock concert. Desmond put down the phone on the kitchen counter and placed his hands over his ears.

After a few minutes he heard a distant voice. This guy was still there. "Mr. Hume? Mr. Hume?! Please. That is my son out there. That is my son." Desmond reached for the phone and placed it next to his right ear again. He could tell Hurley's father was on the verge of tears.

"Mr. Reyes" he managed to say. "It is the middle of the night here. Let me get back to bed. I will talk to my wife in the morning and we will think things over. I will be in touch." He tried to sound as calm as possible. His response seemed to calm down Hurley's dad. He wrote down Reyes' number.

Desmond hung up the phone and the only thing crossing his mind was I need to change this number. He walked to the window to look outside. Everyone in his London neighborhood was vast asleep and within minutes the phone call seemed almost too unrealistic to actually have happened. He was here, with his wife and son. His pounding head quieted down and he returned to bed.

On the island

"We need to go look for Richard." Juliet had dodged the bullet and shared her ideas with their group. They were having an official 'meeting' and were sitting in a small circle close to their kitchen.

"We've been all over the island Juliet" Jin looked at his friend. He was not eager at all to move.

"Well, then we look again." Sawyer turned his head towards Jin. He felt calm and confident. He had been building his patience skills for the past three years, holding onto the idea that 'they would come back'. He had continued their grid search, day after day, throughout their stay with the Dharma Initiative. And guess what happened. They CAME BACK, eventually. He hadn't given up then, he sure as hell wouldn't give up now. If Richard could be of any help, he would find out. He and Juliet would just have to convince them all slowly.

"What can Richard do?" Jack asked.

"Don't know. Maybe not much. But he will know who is still on the island." Sawyer answered.

Juliet rubbed her eyebrows. The idea of leaving the beach to look for Richard was not being received warmly by her fellow group members (apart from James). They all seemed reluctant to leave the camp in case of rescue. Even Miles, who was all better now and usually in for an adventure, shook his head in disapproval.

"What if it didn't work?" Juliet wanted to wake them up. It's been four weeks people! "Maybe it didn't work. Maybe your father can't find Eloise." Her eyes met Hurley's and she quickly looked at the ground. Had she just taken all his hope away? A few minutes passed. Juliet felt almost guilty for bringing this up. The overall good mood that had dominated their camp seemed to have disappeared completely. She had to push this though, and added, almost whispering "I just want to know how long we are going to just sit here and wait."

Frank suggested they could split. Some could remain here, while others went out and searched the jungle.

"How about going back to the other island and try that phone again" Miles suggested.

"You eager to get shot again, Enos?"

Miles gave Sawyer a nasty look in response. James, ignoring Miles, continued "We can search the island by grid. We start South of here, then work our way North. We do it like this we won't miss a thing." He looked directly at Jack now, almost demanding his support.

"I think we should do this" Kate pulled herself up from the sand. "Juliet is right. We can't sit here forever. We can do as Frank suggested. Split up. Some stay behind, others head off to look for Richard." And I will find Claire. I just have to.

London

He hadn't said a word about his dream a week ago to Penny, or about the phone call. Almost naively he thought that by ignoring it, it would go away. They were both in the kitchen, packing boxes of food for a weekend on their boat. Sailing was the best way to get rid of stress. It would just be the three of them: Penny, Charlie and himself.

He felt Penny's hand on his shoulder. Her other hand reached for his abdomen, pulling him towards her. "You ok?"

He placed his hands over hers. "I'm fine." He then turned around to kiss her. "Let's just get our boy and take off."

Three hours later, they were set to sail. They had escaped London traffic, all their luggage was inside, and little Charlie had his life jacket on. Penny was untying the ropes while Desmond turned on the diesel engine. He would turn it off as soon as they reached open water.

Charlie walked up to him, always fascinated by his dad when he was at the helm. "Come here son. Stay close to daddy." He stroked Charlie's hair and looked up at his wife. She smiled: "All good to go Des."

Desmond could feel stress leaving his body as soon as they left the harbor. The breeze, the freshness in the air, the calming sound of the waves. It was almost like …. The beach. Stop it! Stop it! He focused on the water in front of him while keeping Charlie in sight. The next couple of days would be good. They would be worry free.

And he was worry free. The weather was beautiful, he let Charlie help him with fishing, he and Penny relaxed with a glass of wine at night, watching the sun set. Everything was good, until their second night. He dreamt again. This time there was no smoke monster and he did not go on middle of the night hikes. The dream actually didn't have that many clear images. He saw faces, all blurry and unrecognizable. Was that Jin? And the blonde woman, Juliet? Sawyer? All of a sudden there was Charlie, waving at him, screaming at him, but he couldn't make out what the guy said. Charlie kept waving, his hands high above his head. NOT PENNY'S BOAT. He himself was back. And that old feeling, so carefully boxed away for three years, washed over him. I just want to go home. I want to go home. That had been him back then. His hope, his despair, his longing. And now he felt the same emotions all over again, only this time they belonged to them.

He woke up from Penny shaking his shoulder. He was breathing heavily, sweating. "Des" she sounded worried. "Des, are you allright? You are having a nightmare."

They just want to go home. Like I did. How can I ignore that.

He wiped his forehead. "I'm ok darling. I was dreaming about …. About the island."

As always, to be continued. Please let me know what you think.