Hurley knew he had no way of foreseeing if he'd run the island for 30 days or 3,000 years, but he felt it'd be good to think optimistically and get to really know the place. So every day he made time to walk a new stretch of it, learning more about every hill and beach.

It was also a good excuse for a daily break from all the work he and Bernard and Rose were doing at the barracks and at the Flame. They were making progress, but Rose and Bernard were used to their alone time and Hurley felt less like their leader and more like a third wheel some days.

It also helped that he'd already seen quite a bit of the island already, from the 815'ers beach to the Orchid, to the Black Rock and New Otherton – but there was still a lot to cover. Once they had new recruits in place, he thought, he'd take longer treks – but for now he stuck with walking about an hour out in a new direction, and then the hour back.

On his tours, he felt and sometimes even saw flashes of things long gone, bits of island history revealed to him. He wasn't sure how it worked or if he even wanted to know how it worked, but the glimpses never failed to amaze. One day, he stopped dead in his tracks when he found himself surrounded by huge tan tents and people busy setting up camp. The mirage lasted well over a minute, and it became clear they couldn't see him when a jeep drove right 'through' him. Then, in an instant, they were gone. He knew he must have been standing in the spot where the US Army had set up shop with the Jughead bomb in 1954. Another day, he heard and smelled signs of an encampment he never could see—smelled fires burning, heard wood being chopped. He had nothing to relate that to, and never did understand that he was in the valley where the first "Others" had lived, the Greeks who crashed there and who brought Jacob and his brother into the world.

So Hurley was a little confused when, on today's walk, he saw a dot out on the sea that kept coming closer. Was it another mirage, or for real? He waited patiently, and saw it come closer and closer. It revealed itself to be a modern, ocean-going vessel, and then to be Penny's boat, The Searcher.

Hurley let out a whoop of joy and pulled a two-way out of his backpack.

"Bernard, come in Bernard," He heard the squelch of a return call.

"Yeah, Hurley, what's up? I'm pretty close to testing our re-wiring job down here."

Bernard was at the Flame, seeing if they might get some piece of it working again so they could communicate with the outside world.

"Excellent, man, sorry to interrupt but it's important. Aragorn is back!"

"Who?" Bernard sounded perplexed and annoyed at being interrupted.

"It's the return of the king, dude!" Hurley started walking toward the Pala Ferry landing, where it appeared the Searcher was headed.

"Um, Hurley," Bernard started, then a pause. "I know we discussed putting together a set of code names for walkie talk, just in case… but you haven't actually given me a list yet, so…. in plain English, please?"

"Desmond is back!" Hurley answered, "And I'm thinking that means Penny is with him. We've got company on the way!"

"That's great news, Hurley, thanks. Meet you at the barracks in about an hour."

Hurley threw the walkie back into his pack and nearly ran for the ferry landing, even though he knew the boat was still well out at sea. It had only been 12 days since Ben had left for Portland, but they'd been long days of waiting and working and making slow progress. He was excited to welcome Desmond back, and sensed this day would be a turning point for them all.

Hurley beat the boat to the landing by 20 minutes, and watched it coming in. The Searcher was so big it actually couldn't pull all the way up to the dock, and he heard the engines cut out as the coasted to a stop. A few minutes later, he saw people gather at the side, dropping ladders and two zodiac rafts into the water.

Five minutes more, and they were walking toward him – seven people in all. Desmond was in the lead, walking with his recognizable loose and easy stride, his arms swinging and a broad smile on his face. Hurley thought he looked happier than he'd ever seen him look before. He'd let his hair grow long again, and had a short, clipped beard going.

Penny was close behind, pulling little Charlie along. Charlie was more interested in inspecting the dock and maybe jumping off for a swim than he was in anything else, and she had to coax him along step by step.

"Desmond, man, good to see you," They exchanged a big handshake and half an awkward man-hug. "Thanks for coming back. It's been three months, I wasn't sure you would … especially with a smile on your face."

"Aye, well…" Desmond looked back toward the rest making their way up the dock. "I wasn't for it at first, but it Penny changed my mind. She pointed out some things I hadn't thought of, about who might still be after us even though her father is dead and gone. But…" he slapped Hurley on the back. "There's time later to talk later about the whys and how's, and about what's next, right?"

"Right," Hurley nodded.

"Hello, Hurley," Penny had given up on getting Charlie to the end of the dock on his own two feet, and had scooped him up onto her shoulder. She reached in to kiss Hurley on the cheek.

"I hear you're in charge of the island now. If this were England, you'd have a title of some sort. What shall we call you?"

"Oh, no, it's way too soon for me to have a big head about my job," Hurley laughed. "I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Who is this?" He asked rhetorically, and took their son who was squirming out of Penny's arms and reaching for him, apparently fascinated by his curly hair, since the first thing he did was give it a pull.

"This is our boy," Desmond said, "I forgot you haven't met him yet, Hurley. We named him Charlie."

Hurley looked at them and back to their son and they could see he was touched. He didn't say anything for a second, just looked at Charlie, who wanted down, now, to run around the beach.

"Ah, that's great, that's excellent," Hurley said. "Charlie will love that."

The rest of the group from the boat had been busy securing the rafts, but they were walking up now, and it snapped Hurley out of his reverie.

"The guys are some of my crew members," Penny did the introductions. "They've worked for me for years, and now they work for you too." She pointed to the first two of the four people behind her. "Meet Mathias and Henrick, they ran my tracking station in a place far less hospitable than this, weather-wise. They're thrilled to be here." The round of handshakes started, and Hurley saw the rest approaching.

"And this is Pavel," Penny motioned toward the tall, thin, Russian with a serious head of black hair and a serious expression to match, who waved to Hurley and nodded slightly. "He's a whiz with carpentry and electrical work. We brought equipment, he'll have the whole of Dharmaville fixed before you can blink."

"Oh, thank God," Hurley said, and they all laughed at the depth of the relief in his voice. "It probably would have taken years if we had to do it ourselves."

In his excitement at this news he didn't notice the last of the new arrivals approaching. She had lingered on her walk up the dock, drinking in the sights and smells of the island and it wasn't until now that Hurley noticed her and the blissful smile on her face.

"And here's your first official recruit, Hurley, to stay for good if that's agreeable." Desmond said with some pride, "We brought you a doctor for the island."

She stepped up to shake Hurley's hand and he noticed she was a few years north of Penny and Desmond, older than he'd thought at first glance but with bright, penetrating eyes and an easy smile. She was petite, with long, wavy sandy blonde hair and a confident air. While the others acted like new arrivals, she seemed very much at home.

"Hi," she said, and as their hands touched Hurley got another sudden history lesson from the island, a vision as clear as the dock in front of him of two children sitting on a swing set, holding carved wooden dolls. The girl had sandy blonde hair and the boy wore large, round glasses and a woebegone expression Hurley recognized immediately.

"I'm Annie. It's nice to meet you, Hurley."

"Hi, Annie," Hurley wondered if he'd managed to hide his shock, and from the lack of reaction around him he guessed maybe he was getting better at that. "Nice to meet you, too." He repressed the urge to say 'Welcome back'.

"It's a bit of a long story," Desmond said, "How we met her and ended up bringing her along. Mind if we tell it over lunch?"

"Of course," Hurley started them off toward Dharmaville. "The food drops have been coming in just as often as ever, and with so few of us here now, it's really starting to pile up. Let's go make a dent in it, and open some of those bottles of Dharma beer and Merlot to celebrate."

They chatted on as they walked, but Hurley was thinking how much he wished the Flame were fixed so he could try to get in touch with Ben. He really wanted to tell him about the reunion that he was facing, or had to look forward to, when he got home. Hurley wondered which it'd be in his eyes, but from his own instant desire to warn him, he had a feeling he knew which it was.