The Island – 14 hours after Kate and Walt's return from the Weather Vane

Kate woke up to find herself face down on the couch in her bungalow. It was very quiet, it felt like mid-afternoon and she was ravenously hungry. She realized she must have been asleep for a long time.

She heard the sound of fingers flipping paper, the pages of a small book turning. She flipped herself over, too, and lay with her head on the armrest.

"Hello, Hurley," she half whispered it.

He was sitting in a chair at the foot of her couch with one leg up over the other knee, reading his well-worn copy of "The Two Towers."

"Good afternoon," He stretched the word 'afternoon' out into about three overly cheerful syllables and never looked up.

"You going to lock me in the infirmary or one of the hatches until I agree to stop visiting the other island?" She asked. He put the book down then and smiled in a way which suggested that while he'd always be glad to see her he wasn't so happy right this second.

"Nah. You'd find some way out. But will you tell me why you can't wait until Richard gets back to help, and maybe actually give you and Walt some training?"

"That might take another week, at least, before we're really staffed up, right?" Kate asked. "Maybe longer. Do you have any idea when they'll get here- these Dharma holdouts who want 'their' island back?"

"No," Hurley got up, went to the kitchen. "But I'm not sure that makes what you did okay. What if you end up hurt or dying over there? We've probably already lost Claire. We could lose you over there, too. I can't keep losing the people I know best, Kate," He came back, handed her a bowl of cereal, a glass of juice. "I need you in one piece." She could hear he was getting more and more mad as he thought about it. "And even if everything goes fine, it's really draining for anyone who's not Desmond or Walt. We're not them, you know. They're special."

"I know Hurley," she said, smiling her thanks for the food, taking a drink. "Believe me I'm feeling it today. But it's a place to run where they're not likely to find us, where we can regroup and fight back. That's all I'm interested in. That's why I went there."

"Oh yeah, really?" Hurley sat down again. "That's all? So how was Jack?"

"Pretty freaked out," she said, still chewing a bite of cereal. Hurley's head dropped down to his chest for a second and when he looked up he was scowling, eyes half shut.

"Crap. I was hoping you wouldn't actually be crazy enough to talk to any of them. Why, why, why would you do that?"

"Because if we do need to go there we can hide in their Weather Vane hatch, seeing as we never did find it and it seems to have sat here pretty much undisturbed for a long time. But we'll need to go out to get food, water. We need someone there who'll have our backs."

There was a long pause while she ate and Hurley sat thinking.

"So what's your plan?" He saw she was surprised at his next words. "If you want me to sign off on this, there has to be a plan."

"I want to go back at least two more times," Kate said, "Talk with Jack again. I promise I'll be careful not to run into anyone else. But I want him to get Sayid involved, too. I won't get into details, I won't tell them about the D.I or the Others, they don't even know about them yet. I'll just explain we might need their help soon. Between the two of them, I know we'll have it if we need it. Walt was able to send me right to the point right after the plane crash: If he can be that exact again the next couple of times and drop me in a few days later each time, it'll be okay. I promise I'll only stay an hour or two each time, and I'll get back here."

"Okay," Hurley said, sounding resigned if not happy about it. "Agreed. But that's all you do, and if you want to change the plan you tell me first, right?"

Kate nodded a decisive yes, finishing her food.

"Kate, you're not thinking about trying to fix things for everyone on that island?"

"I might drop them a couple of hints," she said, her eyes unapologetic. "Take some meds from The Staff to them, too, " she saw the annoyed look he gave her. "You can't really object to that, can you? Seems only fair if we're asking them to help."

"You do know," he picked up his book, got ready to go, "That if Richard is right about this infinite worlds thing, then there are, like, a billion other places where we're all going through the same thing over and over again. What difference will it make if you fix it there?"

"It'll make a difference to them," Kate said quietly.

Hurley wanted to argue the point, but found he couldn't.

"I'm headed for The Flame," he said, waving with the hand that held his book. "Desmond said they'd get in touch. Get some rest, okay?"

Ann Arbor- Sawyer, Evan, Miles and Annie's Rental House

Sawyer knew that kidnapping a 106-year-old had its not so funny side, but Joop seemed to be really enjoying his latest adventure. So when he and Annie got back to the rental house around midnight and walked in the front door, Sawyer allowed himself to fully enjoy the look on Miles' face.

"What the…. what?" Miles said, staring blankly as Evan grinned, went over to meet Joop with a gently extended hand and a pat on the back.

"Have I ever mentioned," Miles said as Sawyer threw his head back and laughed, "That I'm deathly afraid of monkeys? Of course not, who the hell would think you'd ever need that information?"

"Well you're in the clear, then, man," Sawyer walked by him, dropped his jacket on the couch and headed for the kitchen. "He's not a monkey, he's an ape. Miles, you really ought to visit National G online or once in awhile. Don't you read? Seriously, this is Joop and he's an orangutan."

"Just be calm around him and he'll be fine," Annie took the slightly more constructive approach, giving Miles a reassuring smile. "He's good with new people. And if all else fails, punch up some animal videos on YouTube and you can keep him entertained for hours. Kittens are a big favorite."

"To watch or for dinner?" Miles asked. "Can I ask," he was clearly unconvinced, fists in his pockets, watching everything going on quite as normal all around him except with an Orangutan in the room, wandering around and checking things out. "Why he's here?"

"He's a vegetarian," Annie said, "And he is how we're going to get some answers out of my mom. He's her prized baby, her star pupil in Dharma life extension research. I'm guessing she's just about hearing that he's missing now. My phone should ring any time."

"That explains why you had us buy so much produce," Evan had already led Joop to the couch, was playing some baby panda videos on the laptop for his entertainment. "I couldn't imagine why we needed thirty pounds of fruit and a crate of spinach. And honey, too?"

"That's the equivalent of his morning coffee," Annie said and could see Evan enjoyed the new little bit of knowledge. "Joop has been moldering in a cement and glass apartment building for a couple of decades," she said. "With nothing but a few caretakers to entertain him. I'm sure he'd be happy to know he's about to maybe help save the island for Hurley."

"That's great," Miles said, "But I hope you won't mind if I head on up to bed now."

He said it as Sawyer was coming back in with a plate full of snacks and a six pack.

"Sit down, Miles, relax," Sawyer said. "You're way more worried about him than he is about you. And we have a lot to talk about."

They did have a lot to talk about, but they proceeded to not discuss it much at all for awhile. It had been a long day. Sawyer blipped around the TV channels, Evan was engaged with Joop. Annie kicked back a little, exhausted by the fight earlier with her mother and the whole process of getting them here.

Miles finally relaxed, enough to have a bite to eat, log onto the PC on the computer hutch to look for any messages from the Lamp Post or the island. There were none, and so he sent Hurley an update on their day that would be waiting for him at the Staff, he popped the top off of a beer and joined the rest around the TV.

Annie was enjoying the domestic interlude more than she thought she would, and looking around it dawned on her how much of the past few years she had spent on her own without even really thinking about it. She wondered if maybe those years were finally over.

When Sawyer headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water she followed him and stood in the doorway, arms folded, lightly, staring at him.

"Aaah," He said. "You're about to say something I'm not going to want to hear."

"Yeah," Annie said. "We'll have to think fast when my mom does call. I believe I know the best way to get the information we need."

"Okay," He sat at the kitchen table, pulled the chair to his right out and pointed at it. She sat. "And what's that?"

"She can tell us a lot, but not everything, she's not that plugged in anymore. I realized that when I was trying to get her to talk earlier, that she's on the edge of things now. We have to be near the people who really are plugged in, so I'll tell her she's going to get me into the D.I. She'll make up a story about the prodigal daughter who has come home to the fold. She'll tell them I know how to get back to the island and that's all I want in the world… which is true… but that I need them to help me get back because I can't afford it on my own."

"Sounds great," Sawyer said, nodding, holding a hand out toward her as if to say, 'well there you go…'

"You'll be our lovely little double agent. I should've thought of it. So what's the problem?"

"I need you to come too," Annie said, and kept going, talking faster when she saw he was about to object. "I want to help. I have the courage of my convictions, but I don't have experience lying about my past or getting myself out of tight situations on a dime. Fighting my mom is one thing, but I don't think I can do this without you. I'll probably be dead in a day if I try."

Sawyer looked down at the table, fiddled with the glass of water in his hands.

"What If we run into one of the old-timers, they could recognize me from the island."

"The only D.I. who came and went between the island and Ann Arbor were my parents and one other higher up: Some scientist they had working on space-time stuff, I don't know if he's even around to be a threat at all…"

Sawyer looked up at her, shaking his head with a small frown.

"His name was Daniel," he said, "And he died on the island. What about Evan or Miles? Maybe one of them would be a better option." Sawyer knew why he was fighting getting anywhere near these people again: It was already bringing back memories of three happy years and the horrific way they ended.

"Evan is lovely, smart, and a total boy scout. I need a guy who can make people believe he's whoever he says he is. And I'm pretty sure that means you."

"Aw, hell," Sawyer said.

"Yeah," Annie said, "I know. Sorry."

The Flame hatch

Hurley was steps into the hatch when he heard the insistent beep that told him there was a satellite phone call coming in.

"I'm here, go ahead," he pulled a chair up to the computer console and had a seat.

"Hurley, it's Des. We're okay…." Hurley went from glad to hear his voice to not wanting to know what was coming next. "We're a couple of days out from Hawaii, and we came across a ship – too small to be a cruise ship or even a fishing boat, at least the kind that'd be this far out. Listen, it may be much ado about nothing but here's the thing: It's kind of doing circles in the ocean, or maybe figure eights. Like it's looking for something."

"Tell me you're getting the hell out of there," Hurley said, "Hit the gas, or whatever it is you hit to go faster."

"It's okay, don't worry," He heard some urgency in Desmond's voice, but it sounded like it was more about wanting to get the information to him fast than concern about their safety. "Penny's tracking station up North is watching it, and guiding us on a course that'll get us where we're going without it being close enough to pick us up. She and her team have already talked with Ben and Eloise. They're doing everything they can to find out what it is, if it's a threat. Ben says if it is they have to decide whether to blow it up or go in and take hostages."

"Perfect, sounds like just the job for him. Let me know when you're in Hawaii, okay? Call before you leave there, and come straight back, forget about the side trip on the way home."

"Aye, later then," Desmond said, hung up.

Hurley sat staring at the console for a minute, called Richard in Guam.

"You awake? How many hours out is Frank? Good. Tell him to start pounding coffee, Red Bulls, whatever he needs to stay awake for the next four days or so. And get a bigger plane – tell him the largest one he feels he can comfortably land here. Time's up, man, we need support and security staff here now. And once you get them here, you're all coming back and you're staying this time, got it?" He stopped, let Richard get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah, I know we took a chance: We didn't have a choice, but we will now. We'll have other people who can do our running around for us. From this point on we're all staying here to fight this out together. Agreed? Good."

Hurley decided to stay in the hatch for the night to catch whatever call might come in next. But he stepped out for some air, and took a short walk around it. The sun was a couple of hours from setting and was throwing light through the trees at an angle that made the whole place seem lit from within as much as from outside.

It was just another day on the island, but he realized it was also the first day when he felt both like the boss, and utterly in need of company and words of advice.

He went inside and picked up the line to dial the various bungalows, dialed.

"Dad? I'm at the Flame. Can you come stay out here tonight? Head out soon, before it gets dark, okay?"