The van moved smoothly along the road. Above, street-lamps, stars, and a full moon made it impossible for Kate to sleep. Of course, she wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. Jack was dead. Even though she had suspected it, knowing that there was a chance Jack could be alive, trying to get back to her- it kept Kate grounded. Now, she had nothing to hold on to, nothing to stop her from fading into oblivion. Free from every care she had ever had, Kate's mind floated away, not caring about anything or anyone. It was incredibly freeing, and yet incredibly lonely.

Kate stared off into space, watching as the scenery transformed around her. What had once been crowded city streets changed to desolate farmland, and then, quiet woods. Everyone else in the car was silent. Claire's head was bent over a crumpled piece of paper, silent tears streaking down her face; Penny was sleeping on Desmond's shoulder who had fallen asleep against a window; James was immersed in his copy of Watership Down; Ben was driving with a stony expression on his face; And Kate, she didn't care about any of them. None of it mattered when Jack was dead. Kate drifted off into dreams of beaches, plane crashes, and faded memories. She felt as though Jack was sitting right next to her, helping her to sleep.

When she awoke with someone's jacket on her shoulder's, Kate realized that she was the only person left in the van. Sunlight was streaming in through the dusty windows, it must have been about noon, and her friends were nowhere to be seen. Kate sat up groggily and pushed the jacket off of her shoulder's. it smelt like Jack. Kate cried, realizing that her dream of Jack sitting with her was only James's idea of a kind gesture. Covering her with the borrowed jacket of her dead fiancé.

It was so cold that, despite who it belonged to, Kate put the jacket on and got out of the car. Her feet touched gravel as she took in her surroundings. She was in a sort of clearing, surrounded by tall trees that swayed lazily and reminded her of the jungle on the island. Kate took another step forward.

"Hello?' She called out, "Is anyone here?" There was no reply, and Kate began to panic. The silence did nothing to quiet her fears, in fact, it raised them to a level beyond control. "Hello!" she cried again. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, pounding in her ears. There was a rustling to her left. Kate turned rapidly; there it was again. The low growing brambles beneath the trees snapped and creaked under something, or someone's weight. Tramping through the leaves and low-hanging branches came a face Kate hadn't seen in a while. Her fear melted away, and even the weight of Jack's death lightened slightly. Kate smiled with relief and ran forward to hug Hurley.

"Dude!" Hurley cried joyfully with a wide smile on his face. He hugged Kate tightly and lifted her slightly off the ground. Kate laughed, glad to have something to take her mind off of Jack. She stepped back slightly to look at Hurley better.

"You've lost weight." she noted. Hurley nodded proudly. It was true, he seemed to be at least a size smaller than before. He was also wearing a suit, something Kate could hardly believe. Seeing Hurley in a suit was like catching Ben in a tutu. It just didn't happen.

"I guess it's cause of like, all the exercise I've been doin'. Being in charge isn't so easy. I got to trek across the island like- every day. Ben's a good number two, but being the new Jacob is still tuff." Hurley frowned at something he had said and asked, "You do know about Jack don't you?" Kate sighed. It all came flooding back to the forefront of her mind, and she knew that she couldn't escape it.

"Yeah," she said, blinking back tears, "Ben told me." She put a hand to her eyes to brush away the tears, and Hurley frowned again. A thought came to Kate suddenly, yet she hesitated to ask it. Putting it into words would mean accepting it as reality; something she could not do.

Kate breathed deep; the cold, morning air brought her back to her senses. "Hurley," she began, determined to take her time, "has Jack- has he...visited you?" she wished she hadn't asked, but it was already too late.

"I'm sorry dude. I wish I could tell you something, but Jack hasn't visited me once. I'm sorry" he added quickly at the end. Kate pretended to smile, pretended that everything was fine and told Hurley that it didn't matter anyway. Hurley still looked uncomfortable, so Kate started a new subject.

"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" Hurley looked glad for the change of discussion; he had never done well with confrontation, and Kate didn't think that had changed. He breathed out a little, and relaxed.

"I've been...uh, waiting here at a little house close-by, and I asked Ben to bring you all here. I know that Charlie is alive, and I kinda wanted to help."

Kate smiled. "You're welcome any time Hurley." Then, Kate remembered that her friends were missing. "Where's everybody else?" she asked. Kate looked around at the trees, half-expecting to see them come walking out the same way Hurley did.

"I had Ben take them to my place. We can talk about everything there. I just came back to get you."

They walked in silence, Kate jogging slightly to keep up with Hurley. Kate turned back, but the van was already out of sight, and she she was pondering why the others had left her at all. Hurley looked uncomfortable, he kept opening his mouth to talk, but he always closed it and shook his head. Kate could see her breath come out in puffs of white fog and hugged Jack's jacket closer, grateful for it's warmth.

They walked deeper into the trees, leaving all noises behind save their footsteps and the chirping of birds hidden above. Kate felt jealous of them, although it was ridiculous to be jealous of an animal; they could fly into the clouds, free from everything, while she remained stuck on earth. The trees rustled above every time a bird took flight. It was like they were taunting her.

Finally, they came to something that took Kate's mind out of the clouds. Before them was a small cabin with puffs of black smoke billowing out of the chimney. Hurley walked to the door and motioned for Kate to follow. She put her hand on the cool handle and stepped over the threshold.

The room was small, with a couple of doors to the left leading off to other places and a fireplace to the right. The entire expanse of the floor was covered with a massive rug. Penny were siting on a threadbare old couch, Claire and Ben were talking at a table below a dusty lamp, while Sawyer and Desmond was squatting in front of the fireplace; the source of all the smoke.

"No, no, no. You're doing it all wrong brotha!" Desmond reached out his hand to stop Sawyer from adding more wood.

"You wanna do it yourself? Go ahead!" Sawyer yelled in frustration. Sawyer didn't leave and the two began to argue more. Hurley walked over to help.

"Dude, you've been trying that since I left." He laughed.

Kate walked over to the couch and sat down. Everyone besides Hurley looked up, having just noticed her. Kate ignored them and stared out of the window. Sawyer stood up awkwardly and brushed soot off his jeans.

"Sorry we left you behind Freckles, we kinda had to rush off."

"Yeah," Clare put in, "Ben thought we were being followed,"

"We were being followed." Ben said dryly, not looking up from a phone he had out.

"So," Claire went on, "we had to run... I though you were right behind us... Sawyer tried to wake you up, but, you, um..." Her voice faded.

"You were in shock or something, so Ben went to get the Grape Ape here." he pointed at Hurley. "I was gonna go with, but he had Benny boy bring us here instead." Sawyer finished angrily.

Kate kept staring at the window. They would stop soon. Hurley looked around nervously, while Claire stared whispering with Penny. Kate knew that they were concerned about her, but she needed a moment alone.

"Kate...," Claire began with trepidation, "Are you alright?" She and Penny waited for a response. Kate pulled herself together, Claire needed her to be strong right now. She was probably worried out of her mind about Charlie. Kate turned towards them and put on a smile.

"Fine. Just tired. What is Hurley doing here?" Hurley stood up from a now roaring fire.

"I'm, like, here to help you guys. Charlie was my friend too. Besides, I have Walt watching the island for me" He paused, as if it were enough and looked to Ben. Ben, who had now put away his phone, motioned for him to keep talking. The others, especially Claire, leaned forward to listen. Hurley seemed uncomfortable in the spotlight, but he started talking.

"Kate, you uh...probably know that I saw Charlie, when I was in Santa Rosa?"

"Wait, you saw him?" Claire shrieked. Her eyes were wide in shock.

"He told me he was dead." Hurley said defensively.

"How could you not-"

"Please Claire, we all know you're freaked out, but let Bigfoot finish." Sawyer interjected. He seemed ready to jump out of his seat with suspense, and for a moment, Kate almost smiled. Almost.

"Well, it really freaked me out." Hurley continued, "Anyway, he sorta stopped visiting, and the last time I saw him... He, told me that he was alive and ACTUALLY visiting me." he stopped for dramatic effect and Sawyer let out a sigh of exasperation. Ben chuckled.

"Like, he was never dead. Jacob knew I could see dead people so, he made me think Charlie was, and... Whatever. All that matters is that I'm here to help."

"Wait." Claire began, "What does Jacob have to do with Charlie?" Everyone else seemed confused. Even Kate forgot about Jack for a moment. What had Charlie been doing?

"Well, Charlie was kinda working for Jacob. He was like, a 70's Other or something. He somehow visited me in Santa Rosa, he went to the Black Rock for dynamite, and did other...stuff." Claire seemed somehow confused, and drew back into her own thoughts, biting her lip.

"How did he get off the island?" Desmond wondered aloud.

"He, uh, he moved the island." Hurley said. Ben laughed to himself sarcastically.

"You mean like what Mr. Clean did?" Asked Sawyer skeptically. Claire jumped up suddenly, and started hyperventilating. Her whole body was shaking.

"It was him, it was him, it was him." She muttered to herself nervously. She ran a and through her blonde hair and began pacing, saying "It was him" over and over in a whisper.

"It was who?" Cried Sawyer. Kate jumped off of the couch and walked to Claire.

"Claire, who are you talking about?" She asked in a comforting voice. She reached out a tentative hand to stop Claire from pacing. Claire stopped, and stared around the room, completely lost.

"Charlie!" Claire wailed. "It was Charlie!" She started to pace again, still muttering. Finally she spoke.

"When I was on my own..." She began shakily, "Charlie walked into my camp. I though that was was my friend."

"Friend?" Sawyer questioned.

"The black smoke, my father, the monster, whatever you want to call him!" Claire snapped.

"Oh."

"Yeah well, he tried to help me and I...I pointed a gun at him. The monster had told me he could find Aaron, but he lied, and I was upset. I would have killed him, if the others hadn't taken me. I would have killed him" she whispered to herself. She sat back down and put her head in her hands.

"He was only trying to help." she sobbed. The room went quiet as everyone stood rooted where they were uncomfortably. No one knew what to do or how to help Claire. The fire crackled and began to die down, but no had the nerve to rise and tend it. Kate felt like she was at a funeral; Claire was too upset to move, and whenever any one tried to help, she pushed them away. Desmond and Penny held hands, Ben walked into one of the bedrooms. Sawyer tugged at his shirt sleeve absentmindedly, and Claire cried. It grew dark outside, and not one person got up or said anything. Finally Claire fell asleep, and Kate covered her with Jack's jacket.

The embers glowed halfheartedly, the light barley illuminating anything. It was cold, and Kate was reminded of a cabin that she had seen on the island. The tall trees creaked and moaned outside, they scratched against the window panes, and everyone shivered.

Kate took a deep breath; tomorrow would be another day.