Miles was still in the bathroom putting his clothes on when James returned so he stood by the door to listen.
"They said they'd be over once they're decent."
"You told Richard I was here?"
"Yeah, told 'em both and they'll get over here when they get here."
He waited for Eloise to say something more but apparently she wasn't going to so he finished buttoning his shirt and tried to get his hair to stop sticking out before creeping out. "Hey," he said as Eloise turned her head and eyed him from head to toe.
"You all right?" Sawyer asked, keeping his voice down as he came closer to Miles. "You look a little green around the edges."
A sarcastic comment started to form on Miles' tongue but quickly died. Sawyer was being sincere and the last thing he wanted to do right then was add to the tension already in the room. "I'm just tired."
A knock at the door thankfully ended that conversation. Sawyer cautiously opened the door the inch or so, then opened it the rest of the way to allow Kate and Richard to come in. Immediately Eloise stood up and faced them, her eyes on Richard.
"Hello Richard."
He suddenly felt uncomfortable under her stare and had to look down at the floor; the flat tone of her voice did nothing to make him feel better. "Hello Eloise. It's been a long time."
"Yes, it has. It's good to see you."
He finally looked back up and saw that she was smiling; he couldn't help but give her a relieved smile in return. "Good to see you too."
"Great, now that we're all here can you please tell us what's going on?" Sawyer asked. "What's this danger you were talking about?"
"That danger, Mr. Ford, is Woo-Jung Paik."
Kate stepped forward. "Paik. Sun's family?"
"Sun's father, to be exact." Eloise glanced at her watch and then looked at Richard. "We have to go. None of you are safe here."
"And where is it that you want to go, Eloise?"
She smiled at Richard's question. "Sanctuary, of course."
The van that had brought her was waiting for them and she advised that they grab their luggage as they wouldn't be returning to the motel. She also made it clear that she wouldn't answer any questions until they got to the church. Sawyer grumbled about it but he went along with the rest of them into the van for the silent ride.
"So this is the church, huh?" Miles remarked as they followed Eloise inside.
"Yes, Miles, this is the church. Now, perhaps one of you could tell me what you were hoping to find here?"
"A way back." All eyes turned to Richard as he spoke, walking from the back of the group to the front. "Desmond said that he was able to walk through a door and he came out in a monastery in Scotland."
"And I'm sure Desmond told you quite a bit more than that."
"Is there a way back, Eloise?"
Eloise looked around at the group and shook her head slightly. "After all that you went through, why in the world would you want to go back?"
"That's what I've been asking," Kate said, sitting in one of the pews.
"We left people behind on that island, that's why we want to go back."
"And what makes you so sure, Mr. Ford, that the people on that island want to leave?"
"I ain't got no reason to believe they don't."
"You also have no reason to believe that they do."
"Look, is there a way to get back to the island or not? Kate said you helped her, Jack and Hugo and Ben get back there-"
"That was under entirely different circumstances."
"Different how?" Richard asked. "The whole point of this station is to find the island, right?"
"Yes, Richard, it was until Ben moved the island."
"But you helped them get back after Ben had moved it."
"I merely passed on information. Jacob visited me and told me how to get them all back."
Richard felt like the wind had been knocked out of him and he sat in one of the pews. "So there's no way for us to find the island and get back."
"So we came all the way here for nothing." Sawyer shook his head and ran a hand down his face. "Son of a bitch."
"And what do we do about Sun's father?" Frank asked. "I doubt he's going to give up."
"Mr. Paik can wait; you're safe here. Come with me, I want to show you all something."
They followed Eloise to the actual station where the pendulum was swinging. "So this how Dharma found the island." It wasn't a question but a statement as Richard walked closer but made sure to stay clear of the pendulum's path.
"Yes. They used it to chart out where the island would appear when they needed to get to it."
"But now it doesn't work?"
She smiled at him and her look softened. "Richard, I know you want to go back but it's not right. There is no going back...there is only moving on."
"So we did come here for nothing."
"No, not for nothing. There's someone I'd like you all to meet." She retreated through a partially hidden doorway for just a few seconds, then returned and stepped clear to allow her guest to come out and be seen.
"Hey guys, I knew you were going to come here and I wanted to-"
Sawyer was the first to find his voice and interrupt. "Well son of a..." He closed the distance between them and hugged his friend. "Hugo, it's good to see you." Releasing Hurley, he took a step back to get a better look. "How'd you get here?"
"It's...a secret."
"A secret? Hugo, we already know that Desmond walked through a door-"
"That was different, dude," Hurley said, cutting Richard off. "Because you don't really want to know how I got off the island, you want to know how to get back to the island."
"Yes, Hugo, I want to know how to get back to the island. Why is it such a big deal? I was in service to that island and Jacob for over 100 years and I just..."
Hurley came over and patted Richard on the shoulder. "Look, there's a lot of things we all need to talk about. Oh, and Ben said to tell you hi."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He's helping me with this whole 'protect the island' gig."
"As Hurley said, there's a lot that we need to discuss so let's head back upstairs so we can all sit down." Eloise motioned for them to follow her and Hurley smiled at his friends.
"She's right, you all need to go with her so we can talk about stuff. And it really means a lot to me that you guys wanted to come back to the island to save me, but I don't need saving. I'm cool with it now."
"You mean you like being on the island?"
"Yeah, I kinda do. I mean, sure, the first couple of times Ben tried to kill me I got annoyed but now...I'm used to it. It's just Ben's way of showing that he cares." When everyone just stared at him, mouths agape, he laughed. "It's a joke, dude. Ben's ok. He and I get along really well actually."
"If I might interrupt," Eloise said.
"Right, we better go with her." Hurley took off in the direction Eloise was motioning, certain that the others would follow him.