"Oh, would you look at that!" Alice called out to Jack once she saw him coming back from the beach in the afternoon. "Somebody shaved!" She then walked over to him, cupped his face and kissed him. "I like these smooth cheeks," she voiced her appreciation.

"Why? Was I scratching you before?"

"A little," she admitted. "I'll have you know that my skin is very sensitive."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. That's why once we're out of this island, I expect you to always have a clean-shaven face." When she said that, she actually hesitated since they'd never really talked about what would happen once they were rescued or got out. Wasn't it too early in their relationship? Then again, there was really no point in talking about it since they couldn't possibly know what would happen. Life on the island was very isolated and even if they were surviving just all right now, they still lived in the constant fear of the other people who might've been out there.

"You know, Kate came to me today and asked me to help Sawyer," Jack stopped teasing his girlfriend and his voice grew serious. Apparently, he, too, thought there was really nothing to talk about when it came to their relationship and being rescued.

"Oh, did she now?" Alice just asked, still frowning at the memory of the guy.

"Yeah, he's actually been having bad headaches for quite some time."

"Whatever," Alice brushed it off. "It's not like he's going to die, is he?"

Jack took a closer look at her face. "You really hold a grudge against him, don't you?"

"So what if I do?" She remembered how Sawyer confessed to killing a man whose only fault was not being able to pay up a debt. Then she remembered how he handcuffed Jin and how he treated him. It wasn't a behavior of a normal and stable person, was it?

"He's not going to die," Jack just said. "Although he did think he had a tumor."

"Really?" that picked Alice's attention. "Was it that bad?"

"No. He just needed glasses."

"Glasses?" Alice repeated after Jack, stunned.

"Yeah. Once you see him reading, you'll have some fun. Sayid needed to solder together pieces from different pairs."

Once Alice heard that, she laughed out loud. "If I was still talking to Sawyer, I would go there right now and laugh straight into his face." She winked at her boyfriend.

"And he'd probably deserve it," Jack agreed and then she raised on her tiptoes to kiss him again.

They were interrupted by Locke screaming for help and soon after that, the man appeared in the caves, carrying Boone on his back.

"Jack! Help!"

Jack immediately switched to his doctor mode and showed Locke a place where he could lay Boone down, then he immediately checked the younger man up. Alice recoiled when she saw the gaping and bloody wound in his leg.

"What happened?" Jack asked when checking Boone's pupils.

"There was an accident. He fell from a cliff while we were hunting," the older man followed with his answer quickly.

"Ok, I'm going to need some towels, bandages, water… Locke!" Jack screamed, not understanding why John would suddenly just disappear.

"It's all right. I'll get it!" Alice offered and once she got the items, Jack started screaming at Hurley, "I swear to God, if you faint… I need alcohol!" He looked around, clearly not able to ask Hugo about that anymore. "I need alcohol! Alice, get to the beach!"

Only once Alice saw Jack exposing Boone's chest and then the blood there… she could just stand still and stare even though she didn't really want to see anything.

"Damn it, Alice, run!" Jack snapped at her and that did it. She grabbed a backpack and was gone.

She knew there was only one way to get the alcohol and it was by talking to Sawyer, but right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was helping Boone.

Once Alice stopped right in front of the guy in question, her chest raising and falling rapidly from the rush, her hands on her knees as she bent down to catch her breath; she didn't have the energy or time to laugh at his glasses. It wasn't even appropriate in such circumstances. Besides, he did took them off once he noticed the state she was in.

"Whose blood is this?" he asked in horror, seeing the red stains on her shirt. It must've gotten there when Jack had taken all those things from her.

"Don't pretend you care about me," she just brushed it off. "The blood is Boone's, not mine," yet, she still felt the need to explain. "He fell from a cliff and Jack needs alcohol. Now!" she screamed and was actually surprised when Sawyer got up immediately and gave her all the bottles he could find in a jiffy. Then again, a man's life was in danger and even Sawyer wasn't as stupid as to disobey.

"Can I help somehow?" he asked then, but Alice was already running back into the jungle, so he just stared after her sadly. "I guess not," he sighed.

When Alice finally made her way back to the caves – this time it took her a little while longer since she wasn't used to running in the heat through the humid jungle – she stilled once again, horrified by what she saw. Jack was actually giving Boone his own blood and his face was already pale. Alice didn't waste time trying to figure out how they even managed to perform a transfusion in such conditions.

"Is it safe?" she just asked, scared for her boyfriend. Sun was with him, looking pretty concerned herself.

"I think he's already given too much away," she informed. "He found one last bottle of alcohol and disinfected their skins, but he can't go on like this forever."

"You brought it? Good, give it to me." Jack turned to Alice and she handed him the backpack without questions. He grabbed it with his free hand and then she had to unzip it so he could reach inside and pour some of the liquid onto Boone's skin, cleaning the rest of his wounds.

Just then, Jin came running, screaming for the doctor and they were lucky to have Sun there to translate. It turned out that Claire was with Kate and she was just having her baby. Jack couldn't make the trip even if he wanted to, so he gave Charlie the directions to how to deliver a baby.

"I can't do it, man…" the musician started to panic.

"Yes, you can!" Jack screamed at him. "Just repeat it all to Kate and you'll be fine!"

Once Charlie and Jin were gone, Alice took a good look at Jack's face and what she saw there scared the hell out of her. He could barely stand, his skin was as white as sheet and there were beads of sweat all over it.

"Jack, this is enough. You've given him enough," she said. "You need to stop. It's clearly not working."

"No, it is working," he disagreed, shaking his head. "It's just that all the blood gathers up in his leg. He didn't fall. Something crashed it."

Alice looked at Sun and she could see that the Korean shared her fears. She didn't have a choice, she grabbed Jack's hand and gently extracted the needle from it. "That's enough," she repeated when meeting his eyes.

To her astonishment, instead of screaming at her, he just nodded and walked away on wobbly feet.

"I need to find Michael," he said then.

Once he did that and Alice actually listened to their conversation, she felt sick. Jack thought that Boone's leg needed to be amputated. She couldn't even look in that direction in fear that the doctor might've already prepared something and she would see it all happening. She just sat down on the nearest rock and started taking deep breaths, trying to get herself back under control. It wouldn't do her any good if she threw up. She barely heard Sun screaming at Jack, begging him not to do it. Apparently, it could already be too late. Boone was bleeding internally. Only Jack was stubborn as always.

Alice knew she should try and stop him, but she couldn't move. She just couldn't look. She felt nauseated and weak and shaky. Then it came as a relief to her that Jack didn't actually go through with the amputation. He wanted to, but Boone woke up and asked him not to. He told Jack to leave him alone and let him die in peace. And he did die. Boone died without his sister, Shannon, by his side. Well, at least he didn't die alone, Alice thought as Jack and Sun were there for him.

She didn't really know the young man all that well as he'd been spending most of his time hunting with Locke. The truth was that he'd barely even been around those last few weeks and she didn't know why. It wasn't like they'd caught any game.

"It's all right," Alice suddenly heard Jack's voice coming from behind her. She was still sitting there with her eyes closed, her body shaking. Soon enough, she was enveloped by his arms. "I had to let go, Alice, you were right," he said quietly. "I had to let go and God knows I have trouble with that. You know, my father once told me that commitment is what makes me tick, but I just can't let go."

She didn't say anything to that. She was just sitting there, savoring his embrace, her body slowly calming down.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Jack then apologized when she was still quiet. "If that's why you're not talking to me… I really am sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's all right," she finally spoke when pulling away and looking at his face. "I'm not mad, Jack. I understand."

He only nodded, clearly fighting tears, so she cupped his face and looked him deeply in the eye. "There was nothing you could have done," she told him slowly.

He nodded again and then brought her closer once more. He cried while she held him.

Everyone gathered up on the beach the next morning to meet Claire's baby. Alice nearly gasped when seeing the little being in his mother's arms. He was so beautiful and so perfect. When Jack saw the look on her face, he didn't really know what to think of that, but then he was forced to push those thoughts aside anyway. They all noticed Shannon coming back to the beach with Sayid. In that moment, Jack's hand, that had been holding Alice's so far, let go of her and he walked towards the blonde. Alice watched as he was telling Boone's sister what happened and her heart went to both the doctor and the girl. Telling someone that their loved one was gone was definitely the hardest part of being a doctor, she decided as her eyes filled up with tears.

Once Shannon ran to the caves to say goodbye to Boone – or rather his body – Alice spotted Jack packing up a bag.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

She was truly worried about him since he hadn't slept through the night and he'd already given away so much of his blood. He should rest and eat something, not venture out to God knew where.

"To find John Locke," Jack answered when picking up his backpack. "He lied to me and I based my medical treatment on his lie! Boone didn't just die, he was murdered!" Having said that, Jack simply started off into the jungle.

"Wait!" Alice called after him. She couldn't possibly let him go alone in this state, could she?

After about half an hour, Alice wasn't able to hold it in anymore and she put her hand on Jack's shoulder to stop him. She was scared for him. His face was terribly pale and he was walking wobbly.

"Jack, we should really be getting back. None of us can actually track and Locke is experienced, he can hide from us if only he wants to. Besides, I think there'll be a funeral on the beach soon. Don't you want to be there?"

Jack closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Not that it helped him with being exhausted, but maybe it cleared his thoughts just a little. Eventually, even he knew that he had his limits and he just nodded, so Alice took his hand and led him back to the beach.

She was right, the survivors were already preparing for the funeral. Boone was Shannon's stepbrother, but in the end she wasn't able to say anything about him, so Sayid stepped up, praising the young man's courage and he wasn't wrong. Only that courage eventually killed him, Alice thought morosely. If only Boone hadn't been going hunting with Locke so often…

And then, speaking of which, Locke suddenly appeared on the site, admitting, "It was my fault. There was a plane on a cliff and I would've climbed up there, but my leg was hurt… Boone… he made the climb and there was a radio, so he tried to call for help. He must've put his foot wrong because the plane… it fell with him inside. It happened because he was trying to help us."

Alice didn't manage to stop Jack this time. He just let go of her hand and threw himself at Locke when screaming, "Where were you?! Where the hell were you, you son of a bitch?! You just left him there and you lied to me!"

The men around had to restrain Jack, pulling him off of Locke and then the doctor just collapsed and the screaming stopped altogether.

"Water!" Sawyer broke the silence to Alice's astonishment, but she didn't have the time to think about him suddenly being so caring. She got to Jack and cupped his face. He wasn't waking up.

"He's too exhausted to stay awake," Sun eventually said when checking Jack's pulse and putting Alice's mind to rest. "He just needs sleep and then I think he'll be all right."

Eventually, they transported unconscious Jack to one of the tents and Alice stayed by his side, watching over him as he slept. She reached out her hand and gently brushed his cheek. The stubble was back again, the smoothness of his skin didn't last for long, but she didn't mind at the moment. She just wanted him healthy and back on his feet. It was really the worse trait of all doctors - they cared about their patients, but kept forgetting about caring about themselves. Alice really wished Jack would do just that. She couldn't lose him since he was really all that she had right now. Suddenly, she had the strangest desire to just get pregnant. She wouldn't really mind that. And she wouldn't mind him being the father despite everything he'd told her. Well, she would mind the giving birth on the island part without any pain medications, but in the end, she would have a baby, a little being that she would be able to call her own and who would never leave her. At least not for about eighteen years of its life. Claire seemed to be alone, too, but she had that now. She had her baby boy. Alice would really like to know how that kind of unconditional love felt. While thinking about it and imagining what this baby would look like, she fell asleep when snuggling up to Jack.

Alice was suddenly jerked awake when Jack sat up and then raised to his feet.

"What…?" she asked groggily when rubbing her eyes.

"Was someone in here?" Jack just asked.

"What? I don't know. I fell asleep," she told him and eventually got to her feet as well.

"The key I had on my neck. The key to the gun case. It's gone," he explained. "Locke!"

"Jack, wait… Why would he take…?" Alice started when following him, but in that very moment Sayid came over to them, apparently having heard the whole conversation.

"Jack, it wasn't Locke," he said in such a sure tone that both Jack and Alice stopped and turned to him.

It was raining once they finally found Shannon in the jungle. Shannon holding a gun and aiming at Locke who was just standing there with his hands up in the air.

"Shannon," Alice spoke to her friend carefully. "Shannon, you don't really want to do this. Think about how this would change your life. Boone wouldn't like you to…"

"What if it was Jack who died?!" the blonde just screamed when looking at Alice and Sayid used that moment to charge her.

A shot rang out and Alice screamed, clinging to Jack, scared about the vision of him dying just like Shannon told her. Well, she wouldn't just go on, on a killing spree then, Alice thought, but she would do something else also involving killing. She would probably do what she'd intended to before Jack stopped her…

Luckily for everyone, Shannon missed and Sayid took her away from there, screaming and crying in his arms.

Jack was still sure that Locke lied to him, that he didn't tell him the whole truth about Boone's accident even though Sayid claimed to have seen the plane and verified the story. There was just something about what Boone had said, something about a hatch in the jungle.

As Jack was trying to find out more about the mysterious hatch Boone had told him about, he noticed that Alice had been spending an awful lot of time with Claire and the baby recently. He still didn't know what to think about her sudden interest in children, but it was definitely better than her trying to kill herself. Anyway, he had a busy day and didn't really have the time to spend it with his girlfriend, so maybe it was a good thing that she had something to do.

He was actually surprised when eventually Locke showed him the famous hatch even if he did it only because Sayid convinced him to. Then the day just got more busy as Michael was apparently poisoned by someone who didn't want him to leave on the raft the next day or simply wanted to take his place. In the end, Jack was surprised that it was actually Sun who was aiming at her husband. She didn't want to lose him, but then the doctor told her that if Jin wanted to go, he would and all she could do was to say goodbye. He did promise to keep her secret, though.

"You look tired," Alice said when Jack met her in their favorite spot in the jungle, at the back of the caves. It was a place where they could be alone and talk if they didn't want anyone else to hear them or… if they wanted to do some other stuff.

For a while, he contemplated whether he should tell Alice about the hatch, but then he decided she deserved to know. She was very trustworthy and they were together for real, so he owed her his honesty.

"Where do you think it leads?" she asked both in curiosity and fear.

"I don't know. Sayid thinks we shouldn't open it, but I think we should. Worst case scenario we'll have shelter."

"Maybe it was there to protect people from whatever sickness Rousseau told us about," Alice came up with. "You know, if there was an outbreak here once, maybe the hatch was build to contain people inside, to isolate them."

"It actually makes sense," Jack admitted with a nod. "But even if, we shouldn't be afraid of it. If it's locked from the inside, then it was definitely used for protection against whatever was on the outside."

"And we know well that there is something on the outside," Alice agreed.

"If we figure out a way to open it, we'll know," Jack decided.

"So, the raft leaves tomorrow morning," she changed the topic of the conversation.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I really hope they survive and come back with help, but still, it may be a while."

"Can we stop talking about danger? Just kiss me already!" Alice then said and Jack smiled at that. Then he complied. "I need you so much," she told him when their kisses grew more urgent.

A part of him worried that she might be doing this on purpose, but the other part didn't really care. And then he stopped thinking altogether when her hand found itself in his pants. He didn't have the strength to stop her even though they didn't have any condoms left. Life on the island was hard, especially for him when everybody expected him to make the decisions and they kept going to him for medical advices on the daily basis. There were times that he couldn't even move from the beach because everyone just needed to ask him something. And then there was Alice and with her he could find the kind of peace and release he so desperately needed. Not that she was just a body for him to use, he wasn't that kind of a guy. He really, deeply cared about this woman and wouldn't survive if something happened to her. And right now she just kept him grounded, kept him sane, made him forget.

The next dawn, the French woman showed up at the beach camp, informing that the others were coming.

The survivors quickly called for Jack who came running with Alice and a few others from the caves, ready to listen to Rousseau. They were all terrified of her story, of how the others had come a few days after she'd given birth and how smoke was seen above the jungle, signaling their coming. This time the enemies were apparently after all the survivors.

"You have three choices," she went on, "run, hide or die."

Needless to say, they needed to launch the raft as soon as possible and they needed to finally open the hatch. Suddenly, anything that could be found down there seemed less harmful than people like Ethan coming for them and killing them all. Hiding seemed like their only option.

First, Jack and Michael got everyone to work on the raft. Alice helped, too, of course, but she did her best to ignore Sawyer, treating him like he wasn't even there. Once they were done with the raft, they all saw the smoke above the jungle in the distance and that was how Rousseau's words actually came true. How did the woman know, that remained a mystery, but they didn't have the time to dwell on it. At least thanks to her they knew where to look for the dynamite on the island as it seemed to be the only way to open the hatch. Rousseau called the place the Dark Territory.

Before venturing out into the jungle, Jack came over to the beach again to say goodbye to Alice. She wasn't going with and this time she wasn't even arguing about it. She was more needed on the beach by the raft than she was in the jungle.

"Just be careful, all right?" she asked him in a shaky voice as he pulled her aside.

"Alice, I need to tell you something first," he said in a serious voice.

"What is it?" she got worried.

"I just… I met Sawyer in the jungle and he told me something…"

"Jack, I don't…"

"Just listen, ok?" Jack cut in, looking at her with a strange expression in his eyes.

"Jack, are you all right?" she then asked because she knew him well enough by now to tell if there was something wrong.

"By a weird coincidence…" Jack started again and stopped, but then he realized they didn't have much time, so he just said it, "Sawyer met my father in a bar back in Australia."

Alice's expression faltered. She didn't hold a grudge against Jack, but she couldn't just forgive his father – even if he was gone – for causing the death of her twin sister.

"Apparently, my father was sorry," Jack continued, avoiding her eyes, his own set on something in the distance. "He told Sawyer how he was afraid to call his son, a surgeon back in Los Angeles. He told him how he was sorry and ashamed about what he did… to a certain girl that caused another to lose her whole family." By that time Alice had tears in her eyes. "He said… he was actually proud that I stood up to him and got him suspended. He was grateful that I finally did it so he couldn't hurt anyone else. He knew he did something wrong, Alice," Jack repeated when meeting her eyes, his being equally watery, "and he was sorry. I know it may not be enough for you to ever forgive him, but I thought you should know… And when it comes to forgiving," he then started again, "I really think you should forgive Sawyer. He is sorry, too."

Alice actually chuckled, feeling the need to express something else than just the sorrow she was feeling. "Oh, really? He told you that?"

"He didn't have to."

"So, suddenly he's your best buddy now?" she asked bitterly.

"Alice."

"I know. I'm sorry." She shook her head when biting on her lip. "I'll think about it, I promise and… thank you for telling me about your father. It's easier to at least know that he was sorry for what he did. That he… he understood," she confessed and cupped Jack's face, then looked him deeply in the eye. "Just come back to me in one piece, ok? I can't lose anyone else."

"I will. I promise," he assured her and then he turned around, ready to walk away. Yet, he came to a stop and hesitated, then turned towards her again and grabbed her face when crashing his lips against hers, kissing her with affection. "I… I love you, Alice," he confessed with his forehead pressed against hers, his eyes looking into her browns from up close. She was stunned there for a moment and then she actually smiled through her tears.

"I love you, too, Jack," she told him as though it was the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it was.

"We'll see each other again," he promised her when still being so close, still holding on to her. "We'll survive this, I'll make sure of that."

"You better," she said and they briefly smiled to each other before he finally walked away. And she was watching him until he disappeared from her view, in the same time remembering herself getting on the plane back in Sydney.

She wanted it all to just end. She didn't see the point of boarding the plane, of getting back. What was she getting back to, exactly? A few casual friends and a bookstore? She had no one and nothing else. No life. No close, real friends who would truly care about her. She'd had Annie and that had been enough until… Alice shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to stop the tears, but they were still flowing down her cheeks. Eventually, she went to the airport bathroom and splashed some water over her face. Then she looked at herself in the mirror. She was staring at her face – a face that also belonged to Anne – and she couldn't believe she would never talk to her sister again. As morbid as it sounded, she could get over losing her parents. She would lose them eventually, after all since that was the natural order of things, but she never expected to lose her sister as well. It was just too much. It was the last straw that broke the camel's back and she didn't know how to deal with it, how to live anymore.

She actually contemplated breaking the mirror and slashing her wrists with the glass. Only in that moment the door burst open and a man with short blond hair appeared in it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I could've sworn it was the men's bathroom," he apologized quickly. "Are you all right?" he then asked when taking a closer look at her.

"Yeah… Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," she said and he finally left. She just shook her head and blew her nose into a paper towel.

Now, as Alice finally lost Jack from her sight and somehow got the closure she seemed to need, she felt like maybe, just maybe she could forgive Christian Shephard. After all, he did love his son while he lived and he was sorry. She started a completely new life on this island and once they were all back home, she was sure that it would only get better. Because Jack loved her. She was loved and she was sure that he wasn't just throwing his words to the wind. He really meant it. And she meant it, too.

"Hey, Alice," Charlie came over in that moment, waking her up from her reverie. "I'm taking messages from all the people, you know, to put it on the raft so your loved ones will know that you're alive. Wanna pitch in?"

"No," Alice said, shaking her head and feeling sorrow overcoming her again. But then she thought of someone and she actually smiled to Charlie. "I have the person I love right here with me."

"Right." He just nodded and walked away.

Once Alice walked over to the raft, wanting to help Michael with whatever she still could, Sawyer stood in her way.

"Hi," he said in an unsure voice. "Alice, I…"

She was just looking at him expectantly. She would talk to him if Jack wanted her to, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"Oh, so you're not making it easy on me, are you?" Sawyer just sighed, guessing what she was thinking just right. "Ok, here it goes - I'm sorry. God knows I've never really apologized to anyone in my entire life because it's not really my style, but I'm doing it right now. I think you're worth it, so I am sorry, Alice. Can you please, forgive me before I get on this raft and sail away into the unknown, possibly be killed…" he started counting out and she actually started laughing, discovering that she, indeed, had already forgiven him.

"It's all right. You're forgiven," she said.

"Really? That's great. Truth be told, you seemed to be the only real friend I've ever had and you believed in me for much longer than anyone would, so thanks for that."

"Oh, don't make me cry! Just give me a goodbye hug and don't you dare dying out there, all right?"

"I'll do my best, sweetheart," he said with a smile and put his arms around her.

She actually felt like crying now that it sank in that she cared about him and that he was really leaving. She hoped she would see him again soon. And then she started crying for real when he let go of her and soon enough the raft was put in the water and it sailed away.