I'm getting to the end of this story (just a few more chapters). I took on eyeon's suggestion of putting in the Orchid, just in a slightly different way... This chapter isn't too long. And the other half of both stories will come in the next chapter. Enjoy!

Out of nowhere, John Locke had just stepped onto the beach.

Juliet's initial reaction was shock mixed with happiness. If it was possible for Desmond to get here, maybe it was also possible that John actually wasn't dead (this was mystery island after all). But when she looked at Kate and Claire, she could read disbelief, confusion and fear on their faces. Claire had taken a few steps back to stand next to Kate and the two women were firmly holding onto the other person's hand.

"It's nice to see you all again." John said, as if he'd just returned from a regular hunting trip. "Especially you, Desmond" he pointed his knife at the Scotsman, "Welcome back." John seemed unmoved by the shock and apathy around him. And when no one spoke, he continued talking to Desmond. "I see you've got yourself a proper boat there. Does that come with a bigger ship off shore?" Desmond couldn't help but nod. "Well" John concluded. "You were all obviously on your way out. I would like to come with you if that's OK? It would be nice to finally go home for good." And with that he stepped towards the boat and started pushing it back into the water.

"No!" Claire spoke as she managed to unfreeze herself. "You're not using that." Within seconds she reached the boat and grabbed it at the other end, opposite to where John was trying to push it in.

He stopped and straightened his back. "Claire" he began, his tone of voice firm as if he was warning her. She stared right back at him and he softened his voice. "I know you want to leave this place. That's all I want too. Why don't we be kind and help each other?" He smiled but Claire's expression remained unchanged. Locke shrugged his shoulders and continued pushing the boat.

"No!" Claire repeated and her hand moved towards the side of her pants. Within a mere second she had pulled out her hunting knife and stabbed it into the boat. It immediately produced a hissing sound and air was leaking out at a rapid pace.

The rest of the group seemed to wake up now. "What the hell did you just do!" Miles managed to ask. In response Claire pulled back her knife and stabbed the boat again in another location. And again. "Claire stop it!" Both Juliet and Kate rushed up to her and Kate managed to take the knife from her. Juliet looked at Claire furiously. "Why did you do that?"

"Because that man is not John Locke."

Earlier that day, Statue of Taweret

The walk to the Statue hadn't been long and they'd been waiting for over two hours without any sign of Richard. Why had he chosen this place to meet with them? There was nothing there. As far as Sawyer knew, this place simply held the remains of some very old island civilization. He still remembered the Statue in its full length when they'd seen it during the flashes. It had been massive. And he did wonder what had happened for a thing that size to be reduced to what it was today: no more than one foot. Maybe he would ask Richard about it.

They'd been setting on the edge of the statue base for a while, near a couple of giant toes. But the sun was now boiling hot and they had all moved to the shade beneath the trees. Finally, Richard arrived. He was alone and apologized for keeping them waiting. He shook all of their hands and sat down.

When Richard didn't speak after greeting them, Jack filled the silence. "We're all here, like you asked. Now can you explain how you are going to help?"

"Have you confirmed that Claire hasn't followed you?" Richard asked in return.

"They're keeping an eye on her at the beach" Sawyer interrupted. "Mind telling us what's up with that?"

"Maybe later. We have more important things to discuss. Like your opportunities to go home." Richard looked at each of them intensely. It annoyed Sawyer but he kept quiet.

Hurley shifted and pushed his curls behind his ears. "Like going down the Orchid?" he asked. "That's how Locke left. So that must be good news" he continued, remembering what Miles had told him the day before. The whole story had made him insanely curious. Even though he occasionally joked with Sawyer and Miles about this being the island of death (the jokes were more aimed at alleviating anxiety than at actually having a good laugh), Hurley felt strangely attracted to the island's mysteries. And with Richard Alpert here, he might get some answers.

Richard turned to look at him and raised his eyebrows. "Who told you about the Orchid?" Richard looked at James, who shook his head, a non-verbal way of saying it wasn't me.

"Don't look at him dude. Miles told me. And only cause I asked. Any fool can put two and two together man."

Richard looked at Hurley for a few long seconds, as if deciding whether or not elaborating on the subject was a wise thing to do. "The Orchid is not good news Hugo" Richard finally spoke. "Yes, it can get you off the island. But it is unwise to leave that way."

"Because of that time travel business?"

"Because it's not designed to leave the island. It's designed to protect it."

Hurley looked at him, puzzled, and Richard continued explaining. "You call it time travel business. Jacob calls it island protection. If you go down there and operate it, you will leave and end up somewhere in Northern Africa. But the island will dislodge and you will put the people left behind in a dangerous situation. A possibly fatal situation."

Hurley kept quiet, taken aback by Richard's words. Wasn't there any island mystery that didn't involve death? But Sawyer, the only one who had actually been here through the whole time travel ordeal, was not intimidated. "John Locke stopped it. We can do the same."

"John committed suicide by going down there, James." Richard answered.

"Maybe, but I'm still alive because of him."

"Yes you are. And that is exactly my point. John was trying to save you. And he was trying to save the island. It was a selfless attempt at rescue. And that's what the Orchid is for. You cannot use it for selfish reasons."

Sun straightened her back now. "How is getting someone you love back home 'selfish'?"

"I'm not saying it is. But different rules apply here. You have to accept that there are things in life that you cannot escape from."

"I don't need your life lessons Richard" Sun answered him angrily.

Richard looked at her. "It is not my intention to lecture you. The Orchid can just simply not be used for what you want. Besides, if you leave without permission from Jacob, you will never truly be free. You all know what that's like." He let his eyes wander from Sun, to Jack and then to Hurley.

"If Jin hadn't stayed behind I would never have come back." Sun resisted, not ready to believe whatever she was being told.

"And why do you think Jin stayed? That was no accident Sun." Richard raised his voice.

"What kind of thing is this Jacob?! How evil do you have to be to keep a father from his daughter?" The volume of Sun's voice now matched Richard's.

Richard sighed at Sun's outburst and he stared at her for a while. His eyes suddenly looked tired. "Jacob has a thing for drama" was his simple reply, and even though it sounded cynical, his features remained serious.

Sun was about to speak again when Frank put up a hand, trying to calm her down. He then turned to the dark haired man sitting opposite of him. "I was just fine off the island. How do you explain that?"

"That is because you never came here at the hand of Jacob. You came here through Charles Widmore. You are not a candidate. The island doesn't hold you."

"But Claire said…" Frank muttered.

"Claire lied." Richard interrupted. "And you all know it." This time nobody doubted Richard's words. They'd all known something was off with Claire. It was time to let the cat out of the bag.

"So why would she do that?" Sawyer asked. He actually felt some kind of relief that his gut feeling seemed to still be pretty accurate. He'd felt uneasy around Claire since the day she showed up.

"Why do people lie? Because they're afraid. Because they want to manipulate others."

"Is that why she couldn't come?"

"Claire can't be here, because Claire cannot be trusted. She knows nothing of the Orchid. If she knew there was a way off of this island, she would take it without thinking about the consequences."

"You are still talking about time travel right?"

"This is where I can no longer give you answers James. I didn't ask you to come here to discuss Claire. I only asked you to meet me because we have some place else to go.

"What place?" Jack asked.

"We will need to go back to the other island. I will help you contact Eloise Hawking. She'll take orders from me."

"The phone's dead" Sawyer simply stated.

"I thought my offer would be enough motivation to try and fix it again."

"Why do you need all of us to go there with you? It doesn't take a large group to make a phone call" Frank asked/stated. He tried to sound optimistic, but he'd seen the phone, and none of them were experts. It had been nothing short of a miracle that they got it to work the first time. A second time seemed like pushing their luck. And it would have made a lot more sense if Miles had come with them, since he had a hand in their previous success.

"Because this isn't simply about making a phone call. This is about helping you. I'm trying to protect you. If you want to leave, you will have to play by the rules. That's why I separated you from the people you love. I know this way none of you will do anything stupid. You all have someone to go back to. And the people you want to get back to all have someone to wait for. Besides, there are survivors on Hydra island that we don't want to freak out by adding unknown faces to the group. You already made that mistake."

"Uh, dude. Aren't you an unknown face?" Hurley questioned while pointing a finger at Richard.

"And what the hell do you need me for?" Sawyer's confusion was growing. Why was this man always so fucking vague and indirect? "Why couldn't you have picked Kate? I didn't exactly make friends out on Hydra."

Richard actually smiled, even though it wasn't a convincing smile. "That would've been too risky. If Kate was here, Claire would have followed. And as far as me asking you to come? You just have to trust me."

Sawyer was getting annoyed with Richard's evasive answers. "Yeah well, guess what: I'm kinda tired of being left in the dark. I've dealt with three years of your vague hocus pocus answers. Just speak up man! And hell, I'm not even leaving this place! Me and Juliet, we're staying. So I got no interest in whatever you're doin'. I'm…"

Richard abruptly stopped him. "You're being selfish! And that is exactly why Jacob isn't done with you."

What the hell! Every sentence out of Richard's mouth now just added to everyone's confusion. Sawyer felt Jack's hand on his right shoulder and heard him say "Richard, if you want us to go to Hydra with you, why are we sitting here next to that thing?" Jack pointed at the remains of the Statue.

"Because this where Jacob resides."