As I'm writing, the island gets in the way! I just cannot seem to work around all of its mysteries, so I'm taking on some of them. Anyway, life's pretty crazy right now but I'll keep trying to update every week or so. Hope you enjoy.

"Damn you man." Miles turned over the board in one aggressive movement, his ego bruised once again by his new friend.

"Sorry dude. Told you I'm good at this stuff." Hurley smiled and moved his eyes from Miles' frustrated face to their now upside down improvised checkers board.

"Is there any game you're not good at?" Miles grumbled as he stretched his legs.

"Don't think so. It was pretty much all I did in the mental hospital."

"Thought the nuthouse was supposed to be about playing mind games, not board games."

"You'd be surprised."

Miles, while thinking over his next rude or sarcastic comment to compensate for his fifth loss in a row, raised his head and let his eyes wander along the shore. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Hurley was still grinning like a victorious idiot. He stared right passed his new friend to avoid any further embarrassment. His eyes fixated on the trees behind the kitchen. "What the…"

Hurley shifted a bit to look into the direction Miles was staring at. "Dudes!" he exclaimed while his grin now turned into an excited smile. "You're back!" But then his smile faded and confusion showed on his face. "Uh, what the…" he said, copying Miles.

Their friends were back. Alive and well. All of them. But they weren't alone.

Earlier…

They were still a good two hours from their camp when Juliet increased her pace to catch up with Sawyer in front.

"We're being followed" she half whispered.

He looked at her, squeezing his eyes. She tilted her head a little bit to the left to indicate where she thought their silent pursuer was. Sawyer stopped walking and signaled to Jack and Kate to stop as well and stay silent. They looked at him slightly confused. Kate mimicked 'What?'.

Juliet scanned the nearby bushes, looking for any movement. There was nothing. She looked at Sawyer and moved her eyes from his face to the bushes and back. Let's check this out. He nodded and they both slowly walked over to the thicket. Sawyer approached from the left, Juliet from the right, forming a circle together so that – if anyone was there – it would be difficult for that person to get away. But before they had even reached the bushes, a young (and somewhat bewildered looking) woman stepped out towards Sawyer.

"I guess you caught me."

Juliet could only see her back: messy blonde hair, dirty old clothes. But something in her voice sounded familiar. And when she looked up at Sawyer, Jack and Kate, all three of them were staring like they'd just seen another polar bear. Jack and Sawyer had their mouths half open, speechless. Kate looked emotional; like she was about to burst into tears.

"Claire?" she stammered, while approaching their visitor.

Claire?! Juliet met James' eyes. He was giving her his 'what the hell?' look.

"Hi Kate."

Kate actually was crying by now and she walked up to Claire quickly, stopped right in front of her, then hugged her tightly.

"I… I can't believe you're here." Claire didn't answer.

Jack walked up to the two women and produced a confused smile. Sawyer, not having any idea how to greet a long lost fellow plane crash survivor, couldn't come up with anything better than just shaking Claire's hand. Juliet walked up to them and when Claire turned to face her she noticed big black shadows underneath the girl's eyes. She looked exhausted.

After the first shock had passed, Jack asked Claire where she'd been. As it turned out, Claire had been staying with Richard for the past two years. She didn't share many details with them, but it was clear she hadn't jumped through time like the rest of them. "Where were you before you joined Richard's camp?" Juliet asked. "It's been over three years since any of us have seen you."

"On my own."

Sawyer looked at Claire with suspicion. There was something off with her. She seemed calm, too calm. Almost like she was playing games with them. Who knows, for all he knew Richard could have sent her after them as his personal spy.

"What do ya mean on your own?"

"I mean: On My Own. Alone, since you all left."

Claire looked him directly in the eye and it gave him the creeps. Icy glare. Seriously? Had she turned into one of those creepy Others? He felt immediately guilty and looked at Juliet. She looked back at him and he could tell she was thrown off by Claire's calm exterior as well. He couldn't help thinking that maybe now she would get how those icy looks she threw his way whenever something was seriously wrong between them made him feel. He dismissed the thought however as a familiar yet uncomfortable feeling grew in his stomach. Mistrust. Be on your guard.

Kate and Jack didn't seem to feel uncomfortable at all though. They were happy, almost joyous. Claire let it happen, even though not a single smile escaped her face.

"So why are you followin' us Claire?" Sawyer needed more information.

"I want to come with you to the beach" was her simple reply.

"Richard's gonna know you're gone Claire. There's nothing at the beach for ya."

Kate gave Sawyer an angry look. "She can come if she wants to."

"That ain't your decision to make Kate."

"It isn't yours either Sawyer."

He felt Juliet's hand on his shoulder. "Richard knows where we're staying James. So does Claire. And it's getting late. Let's talk about this at camp." Sawyer sighed as he always did when he knew she was right. The uncomfortable feeling didn't fade though.

At camp

They were all sitting in a circle, apart from Hurley who had volunteered to keep Claire company (or: watch her) at the other end of their camp. The sun was setting but nobody had bothered to build a fire yet. They were all too preoccupied with Claire's reappearance.

"We can't tell her about the plane." Sawyer stated. They had been back two hours now and his gut feeling still told him not to trust the girl. She acted weird and looked bewildered.

"Why not?" Kate objected. "She can leave the island with us."

Miles looked up and raised his hand, like a school boy asking for permission to speak in class. "Hate to break it to you all. But last time I checked, we weren't leaving."

"I agree with Sawyer, Kate" Jack interfered, ignoring Miles. Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"Because it has been a long time since we've last seen Claire. We don't know what happened to her after we left. We don't know what she's been through."

Kate had to object. Her only reason for coming back here was now sitting 30 meters away from her. Claire belonged with her son.

"Kate…" Juliet's calm voice. "James and Jack are right. Why don't we find out more about her first? We can always tell her later if it turns out we can trust her."

"Can someone tell me why we are making such a big deal out of this?" Miles was shaking his head by now, clearly annoyed. "Have I missed something? Cause I'm pretty sure the plane I saw was dead in its tracks. And as far as the phone goes… can't we just conclude that that didn't work?"

"You don't know that Miles." Kate looked at him. He stared right back at her. "It's been weeks Kate. Do your math. It's pointless to…"

Miles stopped talking as Hurley approached with Claire. "It's getting a little dark guys. Any chance you all can postpone the debate till morning and we can have some diner?" He hinted towards the empty fire pit.

"I agree with Hurley. Frank and I have been fishing all day. If someone builds a fire, we can go and prepare them" Jin contributed. He rose from the ground and looked over at Frank. The pilot nodded. "Sure thing buddy."

"I don't trust her." Sawyer was lying on his back in their tent, his arms tugged behind his head.

"Of course you don't. She's an Other." Juliet was undressing herself to go to sleep.

"That doesn't bother you?"

"What exactly? That she's an Other or that you don't trust Others?"

"What?" He lifted himself onto his elbows. "You're not with them anymore. Haven't been for a long time."

"That's not the point James. You can't automatically distrust people just because you label them as one of them. Not everyone you call an Other is bad. Or untrustworthy for that matter."

"Are you picking a fight with me Blondie?"

She sighed while folding her jeans. "I just think we shouldn't judge only because she came from Richard's camp. We don't know what she has been through."

He sat up straight now and started unbuttoning his own jeans.

"I need you to keep your cool James." She whispered while touching his shoulder. He placed a hand over hers and turned to face her. When she was this close he could still see her eyes clearly, despite the fact that it was dark outside.

"What are you thinkin'?" he whispered back.

"I'm not sure." She crawled onto his lap and put her arms around his neck. "I just have this feeling something's about to happen."

He pushed a stray of her hair behind her ear. She lowered her head and rested it on his shoulder.

Jack, Sawyer, Juliet, Kate and Hurley were all in the kitchen – preparing breakfast or already washing up – when Claire walked up to them.

"I overheard some of your conversations with Richard. I was in the tent next to his." she started out of the blue. Claire looked at Jack and continued. "You asked why Ben told you that you all had to come back. I can tell you why."

"Why?"

Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and looked at Claire.

"Does the name Jacob mean anything to you?"

Hurley's eyes grew big. Juliet squeezed her eyebrows at Sawyer.

"I've heard that name, yes. But I'm not sure I believe that he actually exists."

Claire produced a small smile. The first smile they'd seen from her since their reunion. And it was a cynical one. "Oh, you better believe it." Everyone was staring at her now, waiting for her to go on.

"Jacob's very real. He runs this place. Richard is his advisor." Sawyer quickly glanced over at Juliet, since this was what Ben had always told her back in the day. Since she had never seen Jacob (or heard Richard talk about him), she had never believed any of Ben's stories. And neither had Sawyer.

"The reason you are all here is because Jacob is looking for someone to take over from him. He's been testing you. To see if you are capable of doing it."

"Doing what?" Jack asked.

"Run the island."

Sawyer laughed out loud. The chick was crazy for real. "That's the craziest hocus pocus I've ever heard."

"It's true." Claire snapped at Sawyer.

"Whatever you say cave woman. Suppose it is true… Then how come some of us managed to leave, huh?"

"I don't know. Does it matter? You're all back here anyway."

Sawyer didn't know what to say to that.

"What if we want to leave again?" Juliet now asked.

"Jacob won't let you."

"What can Jacob do?"

"He can do anything. He can have rescue never come here. He can have rescue shipwreck here. He can make planes crash. He can do whatever."

Claire looked so serious, to the point where she was almost believable. Kate was staring at her feet. Jack was rubbing his eye brows. Jin and Sun had walked up to them to listen in on what was going on.

Hurley, confused, thought about that time in the jungle where he had continuously run into Jacob's cabin. He never told anyone about that, since he thought he was hallucinating at the time. But maybe it hadn't been his mind playing tricks on him. Maybe Jacob was real. Suddenly he really, truly hoped Jacob was real. "Have you met Jacob?" he asked, and he looked at Claire anxiously.

"No. Richard is the only who has contact with him."

OK, that didn't help. Hurley sighed.

"But I know his brother." She continued.

"His brother?" Sawyer asked cynically. "What's his name? Let me guess: Esau? And I suppose we've just all been thrown out of the Garden of Eden cause they can't stand each other."

"I don't know his name." Claire continued, not paying attention to Sawyer's sarcasm. "But you know him too. He likes to dress up as black smoke."

Sawyer let out a loud bark. "That's it. This chick's crazy."

"James." Juliet looked at him. What did we talk about last night?!

"You're telling me you have never seen the black smoke?" Claire said defensively now, raising her voice.

"Of course I have. And I don't know what that is all about. But it sure as hell ain't no human being."

"Neither is Jacob."

Sawyer just gave up. This conversation was beyond bizarre.

"Then what are they?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. I just know they run the island."

Juliet kept her eyes on Sawyer, who still clearly wasn't satisfied with anything they'd just heard. "So if we can't leave the island, then why did you leave your comfy camp to join us here at the beach? Cause there ain't no tickets off this rock available as you already found out yourself."

"I wanted to find out about my son."

Can't leave Claire behind! That would be cruel. Claire was one of my favorites in the first three seasons. Please review!