It was quite bizarre for Alice when she was taken off the island – which turned out not to even be the one she'd been on before – to her island and then into a village. They told her that everything was all right, that the doctor had performed the surgery, but he needed to stay behind for a while and then help transport Ben. After all, Linus required constant care those first few days after the operation.

Barely had Alice managed to look around the village, mesmerized by how modern the life of the others really was and quite scared of their security system; she was taken straight into one of the houses and told to wait inside. She hated when someone told her what to do and the fact that she couldn't protest upset her even more. She was restless. She wanted to know more. She just wanted it all… to be over, she thought when she heavily sat down on a couch. She didn't even feel like snooping around the house. She saw all the rooms briefly and it was enough for now. She apparently had a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom; all being total opposites to the awful prison she'd been in back on the other island. She kind of needed a shower, but somehow she was unable to move. From what she gathered, she was to wait for Jack and this house was… for them? She had trouble believing that. Was the deal Jack made with Ben that good? On the other hand, why wouldn't it be? Jack saved the man's life. If it wasn't for him, Ben wouldn't have much time left. Also, it required a big deal of trust from Linus since Jack could have killed him during the operation any time and no one would even know that it was deliberate. Not that Jack was capable of such a thing, Alice thought. He really wasn't, but if her life hadn't been on the line, he wouldn't have performed the surgery in the first place. Wasn't it the same thing? Was refusing to save someone's life the same as killing them? Maybe not. Maybe a person wouldn't feel so guilty in the first case scenario…

Alice was really tired of her frantic thinking and she just wished to… to see Jack again. To touch him. To never let him go. The time of their separation was especially difficult for her. She'd had nothing to look forward to. All her days had been filled with nothing to do and a lot time to kill and when you wanted to do just that, it actually seemed to pass slower. Alice always hated that once she enjoyed something, once she was busy, the time just flew and before she knew it, it was all over. A week was over. Then a month. And a year. Sometimes she was scared of her life just passing by and her not being able to stop for long enough to appreciate and enjoy the moment. All the time she'd so far spent alone with Jack seemed to be stolen as it was hard to find some privacy on the island. Could that finally change? Could they stay here, in this house until they were able to go back home? Could they, really? Could it really be that simple? At least it seemed simple for her since she just existed, she survived whereas it was Jack who had to make the hard choice. It was Jack who had to do the surgery and…

She didn't know how much time had passed since she'd arrived at this house, but finally, the door opened again and she was already on her feet, looking in that direction, seeing who was there.

And it was him.

"Jack!" she called out his name and before she knew it, her legs were leading her on their own and she sank into his arms so naturally as though they were never separated, as though they were simply one being.

He didn't say anything, he just held her and tried to calm himself down, to finally believe that they were out of the woods, that the others had kept their promise, that there was no danger.

Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, they parted so they could look at each other.

"When was the last time you shaved?" Alice asked the silliest question ever and she laughed at the realization. "Scratch that. Are you all right? What's happening?"

"I did the operation and Ben's fine. I believe he'll make a full recovery and in exchange we were given this house. He said that we'll get back home, but we need to wait about a week for the submarine to come back and take us."

"Submarine?" Alice repeated to make sure she heard it right. "That's a little… wow. And they gave Michael just a boat?"

"Michael was in a hurry. There was no place left for him on this island."

"True," Alice admitted and just couldn't stop staring at Jack. She really missed looking into those brown eyes which actually were happy now and not scared and desperate like the last time she'd seen him.

"Are you all right?" Jack made sure. "They didn't hurt you at all, did they?"

She shook her head. "No, Jack. They didn't. They probably wouldn't touch me for fear that you might find out and refuse to cooperate."

He just nodded.

"God, I really missed you," he said and cupped her face, kissing her with all his might. She pulled her arms around him, wanting to feel his strong body against her own, wanting the proof of his physical presence there to convince her that this was real and there was no catch. They were really going back home.

"I really think we need a shower," Alice said when the kiss was broken. "And we have a perfectly nice bathroom over there."

"Oh, do we now?" He smiled naughtily at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, what's with you and shower sex? Most times it isn't really that comfortable. And it's very slippery."

"It's not much about sex as about seeing you naked and wet," he said.

"That pun didn't really work out," she teased when taking his hand and leading him to the bathroom.

"Who said anything about it being a pun? I meant it in a perfectly…"

He shut up when she kissed him again and then walked towards the shower to turn on the hot water. He wanted to say something again, but he was just too busy watching her strip.

"What? It's been quite a long time," he answered her mute question and she just shook her head. It only amused him more. He really loved teasing her and watching her getting angry at him. But not too angry, he corrected when he dropped his own clothes and stepped into the shower after her.

He reached for her, but she was having none of it. She really just wanted to clean herself up first. Once that was done and Jack followed her example, she pretended not to notice his full-on erection and let him massage the shampoo into her hair, which actually turned out to be a very erotic experience. Before she knew it, she gave up and her hand grabbed his face (she was still a little annoyed about that stubble there, though) and kissed him fiercely.

And then her foot slipped.

"See? I was right. It's dangerous to have sex in the shower. I'm pretty sure people died that way."

"What?" Jack couldn't help but laugh. "You had no problem with that back in…"

"Because it was pretty much the only place we could be sure we had some privacy!" she answered before he finished his question.

"All right, how about this," he suggested and turned off the water, then opened the shower door, letting the cold air in.

"Hey!" Alice protested, but she did it just for effect. She got what she wanted when he theatrically shook his head, pretending to be mad at her that she didn't like that either.

"Come here!" he then said and reached for her, pulling her out of the cabin. Completely naked and wet and without even using a towel, he just left the bathroom until he reached the small bedroom and dropped her squealing form on the bed.

"I'm all wet!" she protested when laughing.

"Good." He nodded with appreciation and joined her, covering her body with his, touching her, kissing her and being already frustrated enough to rub his erection against her.

They were soon consumed by desire and hunger for each other after being separated for so long. Their hands were nearly bruising, their teeth biting. Soon enough Jack slid inside of her and then they was nothing but them. All the worrying flew away from their heads and once they reached their peak, they came down from their climaxes deliciously relaxed and calmed.

Once Jack slid out of her and lay on his back, Alice snuggled up to his chest and his arm went around her immediately as it was the most natural thing on this earth, as they perfectly fitted together.

"I feel so good," she sighed blissfully a few minutes later. "We finally don't have to rush. We don't have to worry that someone will see us. Hell, we can sleep in, in the morning!... And we need to shower again," she then decided, feeling all sticky, but still, she didn't move. Lying in Jack's arms and being completely relaxed was a new feeling and she wanted to enjoy the moment.

Before she reminded herself to get up and get back in the shower, she was fast asleep, completely depleted of any strength. She came down from the high of emotions and excitement and now she just needed to rest and apparently, so did Jack.

She decided to wake him up by straddling him and decorating his naked body with kisses. He groaned through his sleep and then he finally began waking up, clearly surprised with her position, but also pleased. She didn't waste any time. She took him in and started riding him slowly until they both needed it faster and faster…

Once they reached their release, they were once again tiredly lying in bed, side by side, breathing heavily.

And it was just another day in the Dharma village.

Soon, Jack groaned again, but this time it wasn't from pleasure. He didn't want to leave the bed when Alice was still in it, but he had to keep checking up on Ben every morning. It was just another price he and Alice had to pay to get out of the island. And then Jack actually remembered that they were to leave the very next morning and immediately felt better. Could it be real? Because it certainly seemed too crazy to be true. They would be allowed to go home tomorrow. Home which was LA. Finally, he and Alice would be able to start real life together. He would introduce her to what little family he had and make sure they were both never alone. They could finally be happy. Of course he wasn't intending on leaving the rest of his people behind. The first thing he was going to do when coming back would be notifying the right authorities about the truth of the Oceanic 815 crash. He was going to make sure his and Alice's friends were found. He owed them that and especially he owed it to Claire since the young mother couldn't stay on the island forever. Aaron needed education and modern medicine in case anything happened.

Alice kept on lying in bed in a blissful relaxation for a few more minutes after Jack left the house. Eventually, she heaved herself up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She knew what the next day was and she was both scared and excited about it. Still, it didn't feel right for her to start dreaming about her future with Jack just yet. They were still on the island and she didn't want to jinx it. She was scared to even think of what could be and she had trouble believing it. Could the others really let them go just like that?

She left the shower, wrapped in a towel and stood in front of the mirror. Once she wiped the steam off, she looked at her face closer as she hadn't really had many chances back on the beach. It'd been always hard to keep clean there, not to mention admiring one's reflection in the mirror. Sometimes she wondered how the hell Jack had fallen in love with her like that. She wasn't ugly. She never thought of herself as such, but she couldn't leave the house without make up on back in LA and now… She laughed at her own reflection. Maybe she was even pretty like this, she decided. Brown hair – now lightened up by sunlight – brown eyes, quite pretty lips and lean silhouette. She had more than most girls. Her complexion didn't seem to look that bad either. It was actually pretty nice and that look in her eyes…

Alice didn't want to admit it to Jack just yet, but she was suspecting she was pregnant. No one glowed that much, did they? Besides, there were all those strange feelings of nausea she'd been having for quite some time now. She never threw up in the morning, but it didn't mean she wasn't expecting a baby. Everyone was different and went through pregnancy in a different way, too. She remembered how she'd fainted on seeing Ana Lucia and Libby dead. She remembered all those sick feelings she'd been having when they'd ventured out to find the others and when they'd been captured. And now… now those feelings were nearly screaming at her. Her stomach clenched and twisted, she felt nausea again, but she didn't feel like throwing up. She took a few deep, cleansing breaths and it passed. It seemed weird in overall, but what on the island didn't? She kind of wanted to talk to Jack about it, but then she decided she needed to be sure first. She'd grown so attached to him that she no longer feared having a baby so soon in their relationship. She'd actually never minded. She lost her entire family and on this island she'd gained a new one. Maybe a baby would be just what she needed – another person to love. In the end, she decided to just take a test once back in LA and if the result was positive, she would talk to Jack about it. She remembered his insecurities, but she kind of hoped he was slowly getting over them. Why would he so eagerly have sex with her if he didn't get past them?

As the day went on, those strange feelings and reactions only increased and Alice truly didn't know what to think.

It happened in the evening.

Jack and Alice stopped their pretended mingling among the others, the smiles they were sending everyone's way, the fake care they showed and finally released a breath of relief when finding themselves back in their 'house'. The only two likeable people among the others were definitely Alex – Rousseau's daughter as Alice figured out – and Juliet, the blonde fertility doctor. Those two women seemed not to belong to the rest with their natural kindness and care.

"So, it's our last night on this island," Jack said with a smile when coming closer to Alice who was standing propped against the kitchen counter. "Tomorrow at this time we'll be out of here. Maybe we'll even reach some land by then."

"I can't truly believe it," Alice admitted when winding her arms around his neck and getting closer.

"Just do it," Jack whispered, leaning towards her and capturing her lips with his. "Tomorrow we'll be free. Ben and I went over all the details today. First thing in the morning – we're boarding the submarine."

"Mhmm…" was all that Alice managed to utter when kissing him again until he heaved her up and sat on the counter so her legs wound go around his waist.

They'd been kissing for quite a while and were ready to move on to the next step when they suddenly heard loud and clear, "What the hell?!"

Jack and Alice jumped and moved away from each other, looking in shock at the newcomer who turned out to be Sawyer.

And he was in shock as well. Alice couldn't believe she was really seeing him in their house. How had he gotten past the defenses? Why was he even back? Was he alone? Still, none of those questions mattered anymore. All that mattered was his safety. After all, Jack had never made a deal that included James, too.

She thought she was right not to dream about the future too much. It was too far away and truly beyond her grasp now. It always had been.

Maybe that was why she took it all in with such calmness. She only wanted Sawyer to survive.

"Run!" she yelled at him.

"What?" He seemed to be even more surprised now. "What the hell, Alice?!"

"James, just run!" she screamed, but it was already too late. The others burst through the door, grabbed Sawyer's gun and tackled him to the ground. Yet, he was still struggling.

"Just stop, James," Alice begged him with tears in her eyes whereas Jack kept on telling the others to leave his friend alone and let him go. "Surrender," Alice advised when Sawyer finally calmed down and just looked at her. "I'm so sorry, James," she told him. "I really wish you hadn't come for me."

She couldn't talk to him anymore since the others dragged him out of the house. She quickly discovered that she was shaking, not caring about anything at the moment, even ready to give up her spot on the submarine just so they would let him go free.

"Damn it! Just damn it! Fuck!" Jack cursed, angrily kicking a chair in the living room and then placing his hands on his head.

"Jack, we need to make sure they don't hurt him," Alice said in a strangely detached voice. "We need to make sure he doesn't die for nothing!"

Jack slowly managed to calm himself down and then he just nodded. "All right," he said. "I'll go talk to Tom."

"Jack, can I…?"

"You know how they look at you, Alice," he told her when placing his hand on her arm. "They trust me, but they only tolerate you because you were a part of the deal that I made. I can't let anything happen to you, too. I promise I'll talk to them and do what's in my power and I will ask if you can talk to Sawyer. But that's it."

"All right. Ok," Alice agreed, seeing the wisdom behind his words. She was really upset about the way she was treated by the others, as though she was expendable, as though she wasn't important enough, but she couldn't do anything about it. Not when she didn't have any power in this place and any defiance could cost her both her and Jack's life. Not to mention now Sawyer's, too.

Jack did go see Tom as he promised and he did ask for Alice to be able to talk to Sawyer, but he met with rock hard denial. All Tom could do for the doc – and Jack suspected it was only because the old man had grown somehow fond of him – was to let Jack in himself. The rest wasn't up to him and he couldn't guarantee the man's safety either. In reality, Jack didn't trust any of the others with a small exception of Juliet and Alex. He didn't know all of them as they tended to avoid him and Alice, but he was sure that he would never be able to trust neither Tom nor Ben.

Once he went through the door, he spotted Sawyer struggling angrily with his handcuffs.

"Those won't come off without a key, you know," he said just to start the conversation.

"They sent you here?" Sawyer asked, ignoring Jack's remark. "Where is she?!"

"She wanted to come and talk to you, but they didn't approve."

"Approve?" Sawyer snorted. "And you made a deal with those people?!"

"Yes. I made a deal with them because I didn't have any other choice!" Jack raised his voice as well. "I don't like them, hell, I don't trust them, but I had no choice! I had to keep Alice safe and they would kill her if I didn't operate on Ben!"

"Ben?" Sawyer frowned.

"Henry Gale. His real name is actually Benjamin Linus and he had a tumor on his spine, if you can believe it."

"Honestly? I don't think nothing can surprise me on this island anymore. I wouldn't even be surprised if you decided to join them."

"Do you really think so low of me, Sawyer? I wouldn't have helped them if it hadn't been for her and you know it."

"Well, I had that one covered!"

"Damn it, Sawyer!" Jack burst angrily at the guy. "You weren't supposed to come!"

"And what was your plan after the operation?" James nearly hissed. "How were you going to escape?"

"That's the thing. I wasn't going to. When I fixed Ben, he also promised me that he'd get me and Alice home."

"Home? You mean LA home?"

"Yes, Sawyer, that home. The submarine leaves first thing in the morning and we'll be on it. I'm sorry, but you've come here for nothing. We were perfectly fine."

"And how was I supposed to know that?!"

Jack closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose as though he'd gotten a sudden headache.

"Honestly?" Jack finally spoke to the guy again. "I didn't think you'd come back. You never risk your neck for anyone."

"Well, that one changed when I lost the only friend I've ever had," he received in answer.

"It doesn't change the fact that I had it handled," Jack murmured under his breath, clearly pissed.

"With all due respect, doc," Sawyer said acidly, "you're not the only one who cares about her."

Before Jack managed to say anything to that and get even more angry, they heard knocking on the door.

"Jack, I'm sorry, but we have to go," Tom said when sticking his head in.

The doctor turned to Sawyer one last time.

"I will take Alice out of here tomorrow. I hope you understand. She deserves to get out of this island. But I promise you, I will get help." After that, Jack left.

Alice was only getting worse. She couldn't really comprehend why. It wasn't that she felt like fainting, it was more like she felt something inside her stomach, something that had nothing to do with physical sickness or being poisoned and something that was way too foreign to be a pregnancy. Still, she thought that it had to be a baby growing inside her. She'd never been pregnant, so how would she know? Yet, that terrible feeling only intensified when she and Jack, hand in hand were walking towards the submarine in the morning. It was still dark outside, but the fresh and crisp smell of the dawn was already hanging in the air. It was nice, it was awakening the minds and bringing hope into the hearts. Only not her heart, she thought morosely, feeling terrible when leaving Sawyer behind and what more, leaving him to an unknown fate among the others. It was truly the last thing she wanted even when she was still angry with him, even when she still hadn't forgiven him. He'd come to save her and she really wanted to actually save him back, but then Jack convinced her they had no other choice but to leave. In the end, it wasn't even him that did the trick. It was the slightest possibility of her being pregnant. Nothing was more important than that, not even her best friend – or maybe ex best friend, she wasn't sure anymore.

When they put their feet on the dock, she suddenly gasped and squeezed Jack's hand a little bit tighter, recognizing that feeling again, but now about ten times stronger.

"Jack," she said with conviction, "something's wrong."

The moment those words left her lips they saw a figure stepping out of the darkness with their hands raised up high. It was Locke. What he was doing there, they did not know. Alice could tell that he heard her, though, because he shot her a very intrigued and surprised look. And then he turned to her companion, "I'm sorry, Jack."

"For what?"

In that moment there was a sudden explosion and the submarine was just gone.

Alice, Jack and Juliet were just watching their dreams going up in flames although somehow, it didn't surprised Alice that they wouldn't be getting back to LA, after all. It seemed too beautiful to be true, almost too easy. Too easy even with what Jack had had to do in order to get that promise from Ben. And now they were back at square one. What more, they were on the enemy's territory and they had no way of knowing what would happen next. Jack was already protective as he put his arms around Alice, shielding her with his body. For a moment there, he contemplated running away, but he didn't know which direction to run to and besides, the others were already circling in on them and taking them back to the village.

Alice opened her eyes to a pounding headache, dryness in her mouth and something on top of her, crashing her. The surface on which she was lying wasn't that comfortable either, she quickly decided when she woke up more fully. She tried to get the heavy object off of her and discovered that in fact it was quite soft, not resembling anything made of wood or metal at all. And then she sat up straight, accidentally pushing Jack off all the way.

He groaned when the part of his body that was crashing her came in contact with the floor, but then he woke up and winced immediately when the light of the day hit his pupils.

"Jack?" he heard Alice's terrified voice. "Jack, what happened? Where is everyone?"

He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, then he managed to sat up as well, his back propped against the wall. Somehow they were on the floor in the hall of 'their' Dharma house, the front door opened widely.

"I have no idea," he answered when finally shifting his eyes back to Alice. "You all right?"

"I think so. I just have this awful headache and I'm really thirsty."

"That's probably because they drugged us," Jack guessed and slowly, while supporting his hands against the wall, got up and then on wobbly feet went towards the door hanging open. "They're… they're all gone," he said when turning back to Alice.

"What? To where?" She was so surprised that she just had to get up and see it with her own eyes. What had happened during the dawn still hadn't sunk in and she could only imagine how much more upset Jack was. He was the one who'd done everything the others had asked him to, to keep her, Alice, alive and to get her home. And it was all for nothing. Well, at least the others had let them live instead of just killing them, Alice thought when finally joining Jack in the door and putting her arm around him so they could both support each other.

The village was completely abandoned, some things left behind scattered on the ground, door and windows hanging open.

"It's a true ghost town now," Alice decided.

"Alice!" they suddenly heard someone calling her and the woman in question didn't look too pleased when she saw Sawyer running towards them and behind him Kate with Juliet. "Are you all right?" he asked when finally reaching her and Jack and then he put his hand on her free shoulder. "Are you hurt?" he made sure.

"No," Alice hissed through her teeth and walked away from him, not eager to be in his company right now. Now that she saw that nothing threatened his life, she was back to being angry with him. It wasn't even that she was upset about the submarine exploding, she kind of knew they would never get out that way. How she knew, that was still a mystery to her, though. She was just pissed that James had come for her, thinking he'd rescue her and Jack and as result, he'd only gotten himself and them into more trouble. He could've died for a Christ's sake! Alice refused to think that with that one act the man actually tried to show her that he'd changed and that he would not give up on their friendship. Fate was ironic, truly.

"Where's Locke?" Jack only asked when he saw no one else beside Juliet and Kate – who by the way didn't seem to be too friendly towards each other.

"He came to see us right before," Kate said when pointing her and Sawyer, "to say goodbye. He left with Ben."

"He did what?!" Jack hissed, clearly furious with John's behavior.

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Sawyer only nodded. "The guy's totally joined the dark side! No offence, sweetheart," he then turned to Juliet who didn't exactly send him a friendly look.

"Why would you even bring him and the dynamite with you?!" Jack asked again.

"Jack," Alice turned to him, taking his hand and entwining their fingers together. "What's done's done. We should just get back to our camp."

"What about her?" Sawyer pointed Juliet. "She ain't going with us!"

"She helped me and Alice a lot," Jack informed the guy, "so she is coming with us. She's under my protection, understood?"

Sawyer seemed to be waiting for Alice to disagree, but when she still didn't even want to look his way, he just sighed and started off towards the jungle, murmuring something under his nose about doing the right thing and getting nothing in return.

"So, we're back to the start," Alice said to Jack when together they followed the rest, their hands still joined.

"It appears so," he answered in a defeated voice.