When the next day Alice wandered to the beach, Sawyer called out to her, "Now, that's one happy and satisfied woman!"

"You could keep your voice down, you know," she said when making her way to him and watching him cleaning his place.

"And where's the fun in that?" he retorted.

"And here I see one unhappy jerk," she answered back and he pretended to be hurt. "Seriously though, what happened here?" She pointed the mess.

"A boar," he told her.

"A boar?!" she repeated in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. He got into my tent and ransacked the place. I chased him into the jungle, but it was dark. By the way, I heard those strange noises Sayid was talking about, too," he mentioned.

"Are you sure you weren't just drunk?" Alice teased him, clearly having fun.

"I'm serious! Now I need to go look for my tarp!"

"All right. Let me go with you."

"What for?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Well, I don't know, because I have nothing better to do? Come on, let's just go for a walk and maybe then you'll stop being so grumpy."

"We'll see how you'll be when a boar ransacks your place!" Sawyer just retorted and Alice followed him, shaking her head.

They were already in the jungle, trying to track the boar when Alice suddenly stopped and reached out her hand. "James?" she asked.

"What?!" he asked, now even more grumpy because she dared use his real name.

"Listen," she just said and finally, he shut up. Then his eyes widened up.

They could clearly hear whispers in the jungle. Sayid was right and two people at once couldn't have possibly imagined it.

"We should get out of here," Sawyer finally decided when turning in the direction they'd come from. Suddenly, a boar came out of nowhere and charged him. The guy landed in mud and Alice couldn't help it, she just burst out laughing.

"Yeah, very fucking funny!" he said angrily when he managed to get up, all dirty and wet now.

"I'm sorry," she apologized since the laughing suddenly felt wrong. "But seriously, what did you do to that boar?"

"Nothing! I told you! Damn! Now I need to change my clothes!"

Eventually, Alice left Sawyer when Kate came over, offering her help. After all, those two could use some time alone together and the woman could actually track things.

"Aren't you spending too much time with Sawyer?" Jack asked his girlfriend when she walked over to him.

"Again?" Alice just asked him in exasperation. "Jack, you can't possibly be jealous all the time! I already told you to whom I'm committed."

"I know, but this isn't funny anymore. Recently you two are spending more and more time together," he voiced his concerns as gently as he could.

"Jack, I can't help liking men more than women… Okay…" she suddenly came to a stop and noticed Jack's amused expression. "Okay, that didn't come out right and was wrong on so many levels… I just… I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I always found men easier to talk to than some women," she finally explained. "But I have my eyes only on one of them and this is the last time I'm reminding you of that." She actually poked his chest with her index finger.

"All right, I give up." Jack raised his hands in surrender. "I trust you."

"Good. Now, come with me," Alice encouraged when taking his hand.

"Where to?"

"To the back of the caves."

"The last time we were there, it collapsed."

"Michael checked it up. Nothing else will collapse there. Besides, no one goes there anymore."

"Alice, we only have two condoms left," Jack pointed out when understanding where she was going with this.

"Oh, we don't need a condom for that."

"Ok, now you've got me interested!"

The next morning Sawyer showed up in the caves to get some water. Alice spotted him and went over, curious of how it'd gone with the boar.

"Did you find the boar?" she asked.

"Kate did, but I… I didn't kill it," the guy admitted, suddenly avoiding Alice's eyes as though he was ashamed he hadn't gone through with it.

"Why not?" she just asked out of curiosity.

"He... or rather she… had young. I didn't see the point in shooting it," he said and shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal, after all. Then he straightened up, having filled all his bottles. He made a few steps and sat down on a rock. Alice followed.

"You and Kate," she started, "you like her, don't you?"

First, he shot her a look that could kill, but she was used to his gruffness by now. She knew that beneath that façade hid a very troubled and hurt man. Actually, Sawyer and Jack weren't that much different when it came to having difficult pasts, only Jack had chosen another way to deal with it. He helped others whereas Sawyer did his best to hurt them and make them hate him.

"Isn't it obvious?" he eventually just asked.

"Don't worry. I won't tell," Alice assured him with a smile. "And just so you know, you two seem like a really good match."

"Like you a doc?" Sawyer finally riposted. "Match made in heaven, truly."

"Maybe… You know, our paths kind of crossed even before the crash," she suddenly confessed.

"Really?" James was clearly interested. "Do tell, sweetheart!"

For a moment there, Alice hesitated, not really knowing where to start and how to put it all together, but eventually she told him everything as best as she could. She believed that if she opened up to him, he would repay her with the same and maybe, just maybe she would be able to help him. She really was just like Jack, she then thought.

When she finished, Sawyer didn't know what to say. Clearly, he wasn't good at saying the right things to women or responding the right way to their sad stories. Eventually, he just went with what he got. He repaid her with more insight into his life and that was exactly what she counted on.

"I killed an innocent man in Australia," he confessed, avoiding her eyes and just looking down at his hands while playing nervously with his fingers. "I was told that the man was Sawyer, the very same one who destroyed my family. I pulled the trigger and then it was just too late… He didn't even know what I was talking about…" his voice broke a little and he stopped for a moment. Then he finished, "It turned out that I was used to settle a debt."

Now it was Alice who was speechless, but then she just got closer and put her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She was afraid he would push her away, but he didn't. He hugged her back.

"Do you know the last thing that man said to me?" he whispered into her ear.

"No. What was it?"

"It will come around. Alice, I don't want it to come back at me, but he was right, maybe it already has." His arms tightened around her. "Maybe this is it. We're in hell."

"We're not," she assured him when he actually sobbed into her hair. "We're surviving. We're learning. It's never too late to change, James. Revenge isn't the way. It never is," she told him and he finally let go of her. Soon enough, he got up, grabbed his bottles and was gone, probably embarrassed by the sudden weakness he showed her. She didn't call after him, she understood perfectly. He needed some time alone.

"I'm not even gonna ask," Alice heard Jack's voice and she turned to see him making his way to her.

"Oh, so you're making some progress, I see," she teased him when taking his hand.

"Yes, I do," he confirmed. "And you know what?"

"What?"

He leaned forwards and whispered into her ear, "I never had the chance to repay you for what you did for me yesterday."

"It was my pleasure," she assured him, but she did tremble.

"And you know what my pleasure will be? Just come with me."

The next day Alice tried to talk to Claire when she spotted her on the beach. They'd been friends before the woman lost her memories, so Alice hoped that even though Claire still didn't remember her, they could start over. They talked for a while when watching Michael working on the raft. It looked pretty good so far, Alice decided. Pretty good and solid, so maybe they could actually go somewhere on it and get help for those who would have to stay behind.

Only when the night had fallen and Alice with Jack were putting another condom to a good use, they heard screaming and once they ran into the beach, they saw the raft in flames. No one could tell for sure who'd done it, who'd set it on fire, but it was obvious that most of the survivors blamed Jin, Sun's husband. It was a pity, really, that they couldn't communicate with those couple to reach some understanding.

What happened, the fact that they were back at square one and that Claire was still amnesiac, put Alice in a very bad mood. The next morning she spotted Sayid and Shannon talking and laughing closely. Pretty soon everyone on the island would be pregnant and they would have a fucking blue lagoon there, Alice thought morosely. Yet, she did her best to sound cheerful when Shannon actually walked over to her.

"It's just awful what happened, isn't it?" the blonde asked with a sigh. "I mean, who would want to burn a raft? There are a million of other ways to get back at someone here."

"You know what? You're actually right," Alice admitted. Most of the people thought of Shannon as of an empty bimbo, but she was actually smarter than that. Much smarter. And Alice was glad that Sayid saw it. Well, in ideal world she would wish Shannon a different man, maybe someone who wasn't worshiping Allah every few hours, but Sayid actually seemed like a nice guy and not a religious fanatic on the contrary to other Arabs.

"So, you and Sayid? When did that happen?" Alice decided to ask, her inner curiosity winning over.

"Well, it just did," Shannon said and spread her arms. "I wasn't planning on it…" Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden commotion on the beach.

Alice was actually shocked when she saw Sawyer dragging a handcuffed Jin behind him.

"See? I caught him!" he called out to the survivors with pride and Alice could only watch him with disbelief on her face. Was he ever going to stop hurting people? How could he know for sure that the Korean was guilty? "You see?! His hands are all burnt!" He then pointed out.

All right, Alice thought, but was it a reason to actually handcuff the guy? He had nowhere to run to anyway.

Soon enough, Michael jumped to Jin and hit him, also sure that he was the one to burn the raft. And Sawyer only stood there, smiling. It was beyond cruel, Alice thought and wanted to do something, but there was suddenly a pair of hands on her shoulders and she looked back to see Jack standing there. "Don't," he only said when shaking his head. She knew he was just trying to keep her from getting hurt, even if it could happen accidentally.

And then something even more shocking than Sawyer handcuffing Jin and bringing him there like for a trial happened. Sun spoke. What more, she spoke in perfect English.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" she screamed. "He didn't burn the raft! He tried to put the fire out and that is how he burnt his hands!"

Suddenly, everyone was quiet, just staring at Sun; including her own husband who clearly had no idea that his wife could speak English. That actually explained a lot, Alice thought, because why would Sun hide it otherwise?

In that moment, Sawyer just had to point out, "Didn't see that coming. Do you see the look on the hubby's face?"

Alice couldn't take it anymore. Her hand seemed to work on its own as she slapped the blond across the face.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"Didn't you listen to anything I said to you?!" she just yelled at him, feeling so terribly disappointed. "You're not worth it, James," she said when shaking her head. "You're not worth my time and me trying to find a common ground with you. I think I was actually right about you the first time around." Then she just walked away, directing herself towards the caves. She could hear people finally speaking among each other and Sun arguing with Jin in Korean. Then she felt Jack's presence behind her again.

"Are you ok?" he simply asked when catching up with her.

"I don't know. I just… I need to be alone for a while, Jack."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" she snapped at him and then she just closed her eyes and slowly turned to face him when taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, too. It's just… it's been a really crappy week for me."

"I know, I get it," he admitted and let her leave.

Locke was one of the most mysterious survivors. He had an unusual talent to always say the right thing and he always sensed who needed to talk. This night he sat by Alice's side as she was just eating fried meat when staring into the fire blindly. Wherever Jack was, he still hadn't come back.

"Why any of us would want to destroy the only way home we had?" Alice eventually asked the older man. "Just like you said, we're not the only people on this island."

"That's true, but they didn't do it," Locke answered and she looked at him in surprise. He wasn't going to tell her that he'd done it himself, was he? That didn't make any sense.

"How can you be so sure?" Alice wanted to know. "And if so, why did you imply…?"

"To protect Walt," the older man simply said.

"Walt?" Alice opened her eyes widely. "Really?"

"He's just a lost boy who can't seem to find the right way to communicate with his father. But don't tell anyone."

"I won't, I promise," Alice assured him, surprised that he even shared that information with her in the first place.

"I know you won't." Locke smiled to her, briefly touched her knee and then stood up.

"How can you know?" she asked. She truly didn't get the man as he was the puzzle she could never really solve. She wished she'd known where he'd gotten all that knowledge and experience. Had it simply come with age? But he couldn't be that old, could he?

"I know people, Alice and you are a very trustworthy one. You also don't seem to be giving up on anyone. He'll come around, I'm sure of it."

"Jack?" Alice asked with a frown, not getting it. She hadn't had any fight with Jack. What had happened earlier couldn't be really classified as one.

"Sawyer," Locke corrected. "I know you're trying to help him and one day you'll see that you have succeeded. You just have to be patient with him."

"I hope so, because right now…" her voice trailed off significantly.

"Just wait and see," John only repeated with a small smile and then he finally walked away.

The raft was slowly being rebuilt and – what was surprising – Jin was helping Michael. To a by-stander the whole situation was pretty comical since the men couldn't possibly carry a conversation without Sun to whom Jin hadn't spoken a word since that fateful day on the beach. And also since the day Alice had given up on Sawyer, she reminded herself morosely. Locke wasn't right, she decided right then and there. Sawyer would not come around. He was simply too damaged and he refused to change.

Michael needed a battery to try and send a signal once on the raft and they didn't have any. Somebody mentioned the French woman, Rousseau, but Sayid said he wasn't going to go to her since the last time she'd tortured and almost killed him. It was truly a big surprise to everyone when Hugo suddenly disappeared, having stolen Rousseau's notes from the Iraqi.

"He doesn't know what he's getting himself into," the man was just explaining to Jack. "She'll kill him."

"All right, then we'll go and catch up with him. Maybe we'll reach him on time to stop him," Jack said, picking up his backpack already full of water bottles.

Soon enough, Charlie came over as Hugo was his friend. He said he was going as well and then Alice decided to do the same.

"I'm not sure it's…" Jack started.

"Oh, come on! This is the twenty first century, Jack, so don't you treat me like some poor damsel in distress!"

"I'm not. It's just that Rousseau's a little unhinged."

"So what? I'm sick of just sitting on mu butt or visiting the beach. I need to go somewhere else, so it may as well be this. You said it yourself, we can catch up with Hurley and turn him back."

There really wasn't any time to argue, so Jack yielded. "All right," he said with a sigh. "But we need to go now."

"I'm all ready," Alice said with satisfaction, sending him a victorious smile. He just shook his head and started off into the jungle.

"So, Kate didn't want to come?" Alice asked Jack as they were making their way through the jungle.

"Why?" he asked, turning to her. "Oh, I get it! Suddenly being around men isn't so comfortable anymore?" he teased. "You were the one who told me that you preferred male company, weren't you?"

Alice laughed. "I do and I'm actually glad Kate isn't here. I'm just surprised since she was always the first in line to sign up for a trip."

"Well, she was busy talking to Sun on the beach," Jack explained. "Besides, she wasn't in the caves when I suggested going."

"I'm glad we're doing something else than just sit there. And hey, I'm with you. Have we ever gone anywhere together?"

"You mean beside our place?" Jack smiled to her cockily and she playfully bumped into his side. "And you're away from Sawyer now, too," he reminded, still smiling at the memory of her slapping the guy.

"Don't you even remind me of that jackass!"

Jack started laughing when he saw the look on her face, but then they needed to stop talking as they finally stumbled upon Hurley. Unfortunately, the big guy refused to go back and they seemed to have no choice but to follow him and make sure he didn't kill himself in the process.

Sometime later, they encountered a line bridge and they all hesitated. Well, all except Hugo who just kept on walking.

"Hurley!" Jack called after him. "Hurley, come back here!"

"Dude, chill!" The big man just waved at the doctor and kept on going.

Alice shared Jack's fears. No one was insensitive enough to tell Hurley why it was so dangerous for him, but they were all afraid for him and preferred he hadn't gone there at all. When he was in the middle of the bridge, Alice's hand clenched over Jack's bicep, her heart pounding widely. She couldn't watch another person on the island die. She just couldn't.

But Hugo made it to the other side all right and Charlie, feeling optimistic, quickly followed…

"Charlie!" Jack warned him.

"Well, if he can do it," the man whispered and followed Hugo… until one of the boards underneath him broke. Alice screamed, but luckily, Charlie managed to jump to Hugo and the guy caught him just in time.

In the end, Jack called out to them that they should stay where they were and he would find a way around with Sayid and Alice. Of course Hurley didn't listen and once Sayid finally found Rousseau's camp, there was no sign of either Hugo or Charlie. What was worse, Jack tripped a wire.

"Stop!" Sayid yelled, but it was too late. There was an explosion and Alice felt the Iraqi grabbing her and pushing her to the ground.

"Jack!" she screamed as fast as she was able to speak and then she shakily got back on her feet. "Jack!"

"I'm fine! I'm all right!" he finally answered her, making his way to her. He was right, nothing happened to him.

"Oh, thank God!" She exhaled a breath of relief and threw herself into his open arms. "I was afraid there for a moment…"

"I'm fine," he repeated when hugging her tightly, "which I can't say about Rousseau's home," he then added and they all looked in that direction.

"She knew we would come. She must've moved on and made sure the whole thing exploded before any of us could get to what she left behind," Sayid explained when coming closer and examining the damage.

As they were looking for something to salvage, Charlie appeared.

"Where's Hurley?" Jack asked when seeing that the guy was alone.

"I don't know. Someone shot at us, man!"

"What?" Sayid dropped a piece of something burnt and straightened up.

In that moment, Hurley appeared, holding something in his hand.

"You wanted a battery?" he asked the Iraqi and handed it over while the man was just watching him incredulously. "She says hi by the way. We can go back now."

Alice and Jack just exchanged stunned glances and eventually followed the big guy.