"I can't fucking believe this!" Shannon squealed into the phone and Alice winced. She was driving over to Jack's place while talking to her friend on the speaker. "I just can't believe you're having crazy sex with some hot stranger! Go, girl!"

"Shannon…"

"What? After everything that ass of your ex husband put you through, you deserve some fun!"

"What about you? Are you coming back? Boone seemed a little down on the plane."

Shannon sighed. "He's never gonna change. I'm a big girl, Alice, and he should accept that. The sooner he does just that, he'll be much happier."

"He's just taking care of you, trying to protect you."

"He's been doing that ever since my… well, our father died and he just refuses to let go already. Seriously, that guy should get a life instead of chasing me all over the globe just to make sure I'm ok!"

Alice stilled, trying to remember something, something she believed should be there, right in the back of her mind, but she couldn't somehow. Something about letting go…

She didn't have the time, though, as she was already pulling over by Jack's house.

"Listen, I'm at Jack's. I'm gonna have to call you later, Shannon."

"Tell me exactly why you left a perfectly fine bed with – as you said - a perfectly fine specimen of a man in it just to go see your ex husband?"

"Because David isn't happy and he's the most important man on this earth to me, Shannon."

"Right, right. But you still spoiled your fun."

While James went to check out the well Desmond had apparently been thrown into, Alice decided to look for Jack. She was still shocked with his decision and for now couldn't truly wrap her brain around the fact that he was clearly not coming back home with them. It wasn't as though she expected herself suddenly having all those feelings for him back, getting over what he'd done and living happily ever after, no, something about that scenario of her life seemed to shatter to pieces once and for all. Still, despite everything that had happened between them, she did care about him and wanted him to be happy. On some level, they actually seemed mismatched as she looked at it now, just connected by sudden desire for each other right after he'd convinced her that she hadn't really been seeing her dead sister in the jungle. Now she could easily figure out it was just the Black Smoke messing with her mind, maybe messing with everybody back then.

Alice made her way to the small stream Jack had disappeared to and spotted Kate, just standing there and watching him, his back turned to them both so he was oblivious to their presence.

"God, Alice," Kate nearly jumped on seeing her. "I… Listen, I know I should've talked to you already…" the woman started, moving a little away from the spot Jack was, so he wouldn't overhear them. She had trouble looking Alice in the eye.

"Kate, it's ok," Alice started, really not in the mood of listening to another apology that would do nothing to take it all back. Then again, maybe she wouldn't even want that. Maybe somehow they'd ended up exactly when they were supposed to. Was it possible that the Black Smoke had messed with their lives so much that they'd never made the right choices? It wasn't like she would ever receive an answer to that and then she told herself that she couldn't blame an unknown entity for what she'd chosen to do in the past.

"No, I have to say this," Kate insisted, pain visible on her strained face. "I'm so, so very sorry for what I did to you. I never meant to hurt you. I know we didn't get off on the right foot when we met on this island, but somehow we became friends over the time and once we got back home, the fact that you were there and you've been through the same meant so much to me. It made it easier for me to get used to the new lifestyle, to… to become a good mother for Aaron. And then you testified on my trial and…"

"Kate," Alice tried to stop her, pain awakening in her chest as well. She didn't want to come back to the past and to the dark hole she'd found herself in when Jack had left.

"I want you to know that I never planned it. It just happened and I guess I was in a weak spot. Jack claimed he's been seeing Claire and his father wherever he went and that was why he took to pills. He thought he had hallucinations and then the alcohol came when nothing else worked."

Alice gasped, never actually hearing the whole story coming from Jack. It still hurt that he couldn't seem to just come to her with this problem. And then it all became so much clearer when Kate confessed, "I understood him because I saw Claire, too. I couldn't get over the guilt of leaving a child's mother behind."

"There was nothing you could've done. Claire was gone," Alice assured her, stunned.

"I know." Kate nodded. "I know that, but it doesn't change the fact that I couldn't deal with it. I just… I guess I wanted you to know the reason. I know you can never forgive me, but…"

"But I do forgive you," Alice cut in and Kate's eyes opened widely in shock. "I can't hold on to any grudge, Kate, life is supposed to be about so much more than that, so I do forgive you." Alice knew first-handedly what hate could do to a person. She'd seen how it almost destroyed James, so she wouldn't go down that path even though comparing death to cheating seemed inadequate. "Besides, I think I'm on my best way to find happiness again."

"It would made me very happy if you did," Kate assured her with a small smile and then she touched Alice's arm and left.

"What was that all about?" Jack suddenly asked, emerging from the bushes that prevented Alice and Kate from being seen by him earlier.

"Getting through to people," Alice mimicked what she'd once said about Sawyer when Jack had asked her that particular question.

He almost smiled. Almost.

And somehow she felt like they'd come a full circle. Back to the beginning.

"You never told me all the details," she then pointed out and he seemed to know exactly what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry. Maybe that was a mistake," he admitted with a nod.

"Are you all right now?" she made sure.

"I think I am. Yes. I have a purpose again."

"Jack…" she said then, "you don't have to stay behind."

"We both know there's no place for me back home anymore."

"Of course there is! Just because it's not with me…"

His eyes opened widely as he realized what or rather whom she was implying.

"And you'd be all right with that?" he just asked, surprised.

"If it made you happy, then of course," she assured him. "I forgave you both," she then added. "Will you be all right with me and…"

"…Sawyer?" he finished. "Yeah, that one always bothered me even though you laughed my concerns off every single time."

"I never saw that he was interested in me that way."

"How could he not? Though he did the noble thing and never acted on those feelings," Jack pointed out, "which is something I never thought I would say about him."

Alice chuckled and then saddened. "Is this really the end? Are we just going to defeat Locke and come back home and never look back?"

"Don't tell me you'll miss this place."

"No. Not the island. But the connections I made while being here," Alice said when looking around. "And ok, maybe I'll miss it just a little," she finally admitted with a small smile.

"With me guarding it, you can come visit, you know. We just have to make sure the Black Smoke's gone."

"That's a good idea for vacations," she joked. "Are you truly sure about this, Jack?" she then asked one more time, looking at him as though she was trying to memorize him, to burn his image, his face into her mind, because despite everything he just told her, she had a feeling she would never be coming back here.

"It's my destiny," he just said, "I've never been sure of anything in my life until now."

She nodded, swallowing over the tears forming in her throat and then she was rescued from any awkwardness that would follow by James's return.

"I didn't see Desmond in the well, but that's good news, right?" he asked, joining them. "It means he got out. But I met Locke. He's settled on destroying this place."

"Are you all right?" Alice asked in fear.

"What doc said about him is clearly true, he can't hurt us himself," James just said.

"We can't let him destroy this island," Hugo followed with when coming closer to them. "What do we do, Jack?" he then asked the leader.

"I say we go to the bamboo forest I woke up in when I first landed here," he said, having made up his mind and they all just marched on, following him.

"Hey, what about Desmond? Shouldn't we look for him some more?" James asked, hesitant if he should go, too.

"It doesn't matter if we find Desmond," Jack answered. "We're all going to the same place."

"You're suddenly so sure about that, doc? And then what?"

"Then it ends," Jack answered and looked at Alice briefly before he shifted his eyes to Kate, his expression sad. Alice guessed that those two would have to be separated, maybe even for good as Kate was meant to go home to Aaron.

The door opened, showing a very angry Jack.

"Where is he?" Alice just asked when ignoring him and pushing her way inside.

"He's locked himself up in his room," her ex husband informed harshly. "What the hell, Alice? Who told him all those things?"

"What things?" she whirled back on him instead of just going to see her son.

"He keeps telling me I'm not his father."

"Maybe you're not."

"What did you just say to me?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Jack," she said his name in a warning tone when putting her hands in front of her as though she tried to keep him at distance. "We both know you're rather the absentee father, so don't be so surprised that David said all those things to you."

"So it's suddenly my fault?!" he raised his voice, not able to keep all the anger inside any longer.

"Whom else? Mine?!" she screamed right back. "Maybe if he felt more wanted…"

"Alice…"

"Just listen to me, will you?! I get that you never wanted him, but he's already here, Jack! You're supposed to love him!"

"I do! I am here, doing my best whereas you fuck some random guy when what you really should be doing is mourning your family!"

"Do I remind you about all those nurses you have been fucking behind my back?! Did you ever even love me Jack?" she asked then in a much calmer voice.

His face grew red and he was just about to say something back when her phone beeped. She was holding it in her hand after hanging up on Shannon, so she absentmindedly glanced at the screen and froze.

She might've left James's apartment in a hurry this morning, but they'd exchanged their phone numbers, both not able to treat what happened as just a one night stand.

The text said, found him. On my way.

"Damn it!" Alice cursed when choosing James's number and calling him as she strode right through the door and ran back to her car.

"Alice?" Jack asked her, shocked that she could just leave this way. "Alice, what the hell?!" he followed her.

"Not now, Jack," she dismissed him when jumping into her car, "fix your own mess, ok?" Then someone must've answered her call because she said, "Where?!" and drove away with a screech of tires, leaving Jack just standing there on the street, stupefied.

They were very close to the bamboo forest when somebody walked out of the bushes on their right. Kate was already raising her gun, preparing herself to shoot when Richard raised his hands in surrender and yelled, "Wow! Wait! It's just me!"

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked in surprise as Kate lowered the gun.

"I came to tell you that I found Lapidus and right now he's working on the plane. I'm getting you all out of here."

"So you no longer want to destroy it?" Jack made sure.

"What's the point in destroying it if we can just fly away in it, leaving Locke behind?" Richard asked.

"That's actually a great plan, dude," Hugo said, "but we have to kill Locke, not just leave him behind."

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Richard got interested when joining the group.

"You'll see," Jack only said mysteriously.

"The plane should be ready in an hour," Richard added.

"First things first."

Barely had they entered the bamboo forest, they met with Locke who was dragging Desmond and Ben behind.

"So, you are the new Jacob, hah?" Locke asked Jack since he was the one currently leading.

"Let's just go," Jack said.

They all jumped when suddenly, Kate opened fire, shooting Locke. To their shock, the man was still standing, having no scratch on him.

"Have you finished?" he just asked stunned Kate and then turned to Jack with warning in his voice, "Whatever you think you'll do, you're wrong."

"Really? I'm going to destroy you."

"No, you're going to destroy this island," the man corrected him.

"We'll just have to wait and see who's right, then," Jack cut the conversation short.

They finally reached the heart of the island and for a moment, they all stood still, mesmerized by the simple and natural beauty of the light in the cave they saw the entrance to. There was a small stream disappearing inside, going down, water carrying the light.

Locke was the only one who seemed not to waste his time when he pulled out a rope and tied it around Desmond's waist. Hugo helped him and they slowly lowered Desmond into the pit. Then, they waited.

Alice could tell Jack was buzzing with anticipation, ready to act, ready to kill Locke as soon as he had the chance. And then it happened - Alice felt sick, but this feeling wasn't particularly strong. With Jacob's death, her ability must've really been disappearing.

"I guess you were wrong, Jack," Locke said and next thing Alice knew, Jack jumped to him and tackled him to the ground, then he hit him in the face and to their astonishment, the man actually bled.

"You were wrong, too," Jack said with satisfaction.

Locke then took him by surprise when striking him upside the head and running away quickly. James tried to stop him, but he met with the same fate Jack had, just dropping flat on the ground. Alice screamed his name and Kate opened fire again, but missed John, letting him disappear in the jungle.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" she yelled and followed the Man in Black. In the meantime, Hugo was calling Desmond's name by the pit, hoping to get him out in time.

"James!" Alice got to him fast. "James, wake up!" She squatted right by him and cupped his face, trying to gently shake him awake. "James?"

To her relief, he opened his eyes. He was disoriented for a moment, but then she saw understanding and recognition in his eyes and he slowly sat up, massaging his head. She helped him stand up and then almost immediately bent over, struck with a particularly strong attack.

"What's wrong?" Sawyer asked with fear in his voice. "What's happening to you?"

"It's… James, something's terribly wrong. I think Kate's in trouble," Alice informed with a gasp.

"I'm on it," he just said and was already gone, running after Locke and Kate.

"James! Wait!" Alice tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"I don't know how to help Desmond!" she then heard Hugo calling, but somehow she had a feeling that Desmond would be just fine.

"I can do it," Jack offered to her surprise when back on his feet.

Alice was actually torn between running after James and making sure he was all right and trying to convince Jack not to do anything stupid. Then she decided that she would be of no help to James and Kate against Locke, so she turned to Jack.

"You don't know what will happen to you once you get down there," she protested, making her way to him.

"I know. I'll die," he simply answered and she froze, staring at him with her eyes widely opened in shock.

"But… Jack…" she stilled, terrified. "No," she finally uttered when placing her hands on his arms. "Jack, you can't do this. You can't die." She already had tears in her eyes, her inside just being one huge whirlwind of emotions. She saw their past before her eyes. She remembered how she'd met him, seeing him helping everyone on the beach as she swam there. She remembered seeing the bottle of alcohol on him. She'd always suspected he could take to drinking, why else would he order so much on the plane? But he'd never had until… until he broke. She remembered how she stitched him up. Their first kiss. First time together. Starting her life with him and then everything going to hell. Her feelings might've changed, taking up on a different route, but Jack would always remain important to her, always be one of the most significant people in her life.

And now she would lose him forever and never even see his face. It was worse than leaving him behind on the island. At least then she'd know he was all right. That he was happy, finally finding his purpose.

"I have to put whatever Desmond pulled out, back in," Jack explained, oblivious to what was going on inside of her. "Once you kill Locke, this has to be done. Otherwise the island will crumble and land at the bottom of the ocean. You and I both know we cannot let that happen, Alice. Not after everything we've done trying to protect this place."

"You mean after everything you've done to protect it," she corrected, looking aside as though she couldn't stand his gaze.

"Alice…"

"You can't just… sacrifice yourself like this, Jack. You have too much to lose. What about Kate?" She asked then when meeting his eyes again. She saw sadness there, a bottomless pit of regret and she felt so sorry for him. She wasn't mad about what had happened anymore, she wasn't hurt, she just felt sorry for him. She knew she would always want him to be happy and that was it.

"I thought running this island was my true calling, but I'm never right, am I?" he just asked, laughing through his tears. Still, she did not reciprocate. She was just crying.

"I know you will have the life you always wanted and needed, Alice," he then said when placing his hand on her face and looking her deeply in the eye. "I'm just not meant to be a part of it. I never was."

"So you'll just die? That's bullshit!"

"We both know there's no other choice here…" He leaned forward and kissed her gently. She didn't protest when his lips touched hers. He needed it, he needed courage and he needed to say his goodbye, so he kissed her and she kissed him back, knowing that she couldn't take that away from him. In the end, she even wanted to, just for the old times' sake.

Then she was losing the hold he had on her and he was moving towards Hugo, asking him to take over and performing the impromptu ceremony.

Ben soon came over to help Hugo lower Jack into the pit and Alice could only watch him disappear there. She was shaking all over, still not comprehending what was happening. She couldn't accept that he would just die for them all, putting the light back into place. She knew enough about it by now. Only Desmond was special and could withstand the power emanating from it without dying. But Desmond was unconscious and depleted of all his strength at the moment, so he couldn't possibly help out now.

It hit her so suddenly that she was nearly knocked down, all the air leaving her lungs as she bent over, feeling horrible, clenching onto her stomach as nausea hit. There was also something else. Something she'd never felt before. Something nearly clouding her whole mind, making it impossible for her to see or feel anything but this paralyzing fear. Her ability had never been screaming at her so badly before and somehow she knew that it wasn't because it was disappearing, that it wasn't one last time. Or maybe it was, but it was more serious than anything she'd been warned about before. It felt so bad that she was afraid she'd lose control and just faint. She'd fainted once before, after the freighter exploded and their chopper crashed. It was when the island disappeared. Still, this time it seemed even worse than that. It was beyond anything she'd ever experienced. It made her want to lie down on the ground and crawl in pain, to just die, to just stop everything so she could have some respite.

She was losing her fight, she knew that. Soon, she would just black out and then, through her already clouded and sore brain, she remembered something – And one day, Alice, it may even help you save the life of someone you love.

It took everything she had, all her willpower and strength to just stand up, to get to her feet and move. To just move towards the place Locke, Kate and James had disappeared to.

Run, Alice, run! She screamed at herself in her mind as she started moving her legs, faster and faster, as she fought through the pain and nausea, as she just sped. Run! Run for your life! And she was. Quite literally, too. She wanted nothing more than to just stop and to collapse and pass out, but she couldn't. Because James was in mortal danger and she couldn't do it without him. She could not do anything without him. Not now. Not when she'd already lost so much. She just couldn't lose him too.

James could hear Kate screaming in pain and then screaming for help as he was speeding through the jungle to help her. He hoped he wasn't too late, but once he reached the cliff, he found her lying on the hard rock surface in a pool of blood. He immediately got to his knees, checking her pulse. She was breathing, but barely. He looked at her wounds and discovered that she had been stabbed multiple times. It was a miracle that she was still breathing, but for how long? He wondered.

"Behind you," he suddenly heard her warning him in a weak, wheezy voice. It took him quite some time to decipher what she said and once he did, it was already too late. There was a knife pressed against his throat.

Sawyer stilled, his heart beating even faster. He was terrified of what would happen next. Locke would kill him. He would simply slit his throat and there was nothing he could do to escape the blade. No one to help him. Kate was already dead. Soon, he would join her, he thought and closed his eyes shut, thinking of how stupid he was to get himself stuck in this trap. Then he thought of Alice and the pain of losing her, of leaving this world without seeing her one last time. It was just too much.

"Any last words, James?" Locke asked him, pressing the blade harder against his neck. It was already bleeding, but the cut was only skin deep, nothing damaged so far, so James started frantically looking for something, anything, a weapon to use, but he failed. There was nothing. Kate's gun was probably discarded somewhere else.

And just then, when he closed his eyes and prayed to God and thought of Alice, a shot went out and the knife was dropped, releasing him from its painful vise. He took a deep breath, thanking the heavens for whoever just saved his life and then he stood up and turned around. He was stunned to see Alice standing there with a still smoking gun in her hands. He could tell she was shaking, barely standing on her feet as though she was going to collapse.

"I guess the shooting lessons really came in handy," she said nearly breathlessly before she dropped the gun and her knees hit the ground.

James was by her side in a second, holding her in his arms as she sobbed, her tears mixing with the blood that was still on his neck. She was clenching onto him desperately, couldn't believe she made it on time, couldn't really believe she was strong enough to push through and save him. And now she couldn't let him go, reveling in the feel of his strong arms around her, his heart beating so widely in his chest right next to hers.

"Alice…" he gasped her name when cradling her in his arms, burying his face in her hair, just clinging to her, still stunned that she saved him. Stunned not only that he got the chance to see and hold her again, but also because they were finally free. Locke – or the Black Smoke – was dead and they could finally go home. Only then he realized he was already home since she always was just that for him.

"Let's get out of here," she finally said shakily when moving away a little and looking him in the eye. "I can't do this anymore. We need to leave this island."

"Say no more." He helped her to her feet and then led to a cliff. "Wait, what about the doc…?"

The look on Alice's face was enough to stop him from asking any questions. "Damn. I'm sorry," he just said, grief breaking all over his face.

"James, we can't just jump," she protested then, not able to deal with the fact that Jack was dead just yet. Not to mention that Kate seemed to be, too. It was… it was too much.

"See another way out?"

She didn't, so she trusted him to pull her after him as they jumped into the water.

Once they finally got to the beach on Hydra island, they were met with a surprise. Claire was just sitting there, nervously playing with her fingers. Alice's heart reached out to her when seeing the state the blonde was in. It was hopelessness, abandonment, lack of belonging. She herself had once felt that way and Jack had helped her. Maybe now it was her turn to return that favor.

"Claire?" she asked when approaching the woman slowly. "Claire, there's a plane leaving this island very soon and we can be there. We can get out of here."

She didn't move or say anything for a moment, but then she slowly raised her head and met Alice's eyes.

"I'm not going. I can't."

"Why not?" Alice asked when squatting right in front of the woman, looking at her face. "Don't you want to see your son? Don't you want to see Aaron?"

"Look at me!" Claire suddenly raised her voice. "I can't let him see me like this!"

"Nothing is irreversible, Claire," Alice continued in the same calming and steady voice. She needed to do this. She needed to reunite a mother with her son. She needed to do this for Kate, for Aaron, for Jack. Kate died for this and Alice knew Jack wouldn't want Claire to be left behind one more time. He would want her to go back to her son. He would want to do just this one thing for the sister he never knew he had. "Claire, listen, you need to get back to your son. Please, let me take you to him. Kate…" she stopped, hesitating, but then she said it anyway in a changed voice. "Kate is gone. You're the only mother Aaron has left now. You have to come with us. I will help you every step of the way, I promise. You will never be alone again. What do you say?" Alice reached her hand to Claire, waiting for the blonde to decide to go with them.

Eventually, she accepted the help and together they ran towards the plane.

Lapidus was already leaving, but he stopped, seeing that Sawyer ran out in front of the plane, waving his arms and soon enough, two other people joined him.

"Looks like we got some latecomers!" the pilot informed happily and Richard opened the door, helping all of them in.

They quickly took their seats and Lapidus started all over again, praying that they'd manage to leave before the ground crumbled underneath them.

Alice led Claire towards the window seat, taking the one beside her and finally, the third seat was taken by James. They held hands again, just being together, trying to believe they were actually leaving, trying to deal with what and whom they were leaving behind and what would await them back home. Alice looked at James's throat worryingly as she could still see the fresh blood there, but he assured her it was just a scratch, so she rested her head on his shoulder, still holding onto him, still needing a proof that he was there and he was alive and he was real. There was so much she needed to say to him, but she had to leave that one for later, too overwhelmed to even speak at the moment.

Finally, the plane lifted up into the air and they left the island.

Jack somehow managed to crawl out of the pit, even though he knew he was dying. He could feel it, all of his organs slowly shutting down, the internal bleeding taking place. He'd already held on for much longer than he should have, he knew that much. Maybe it was just his will to see them all leave. He wouldn't let himself succumb to darkness no matter how much it hurt, because he needed to see that they really left the island, that they were all right.

As he stumbled and fell to the ground, having no strength left in him, he finally saw it – a plane flying in the air just above him. He smiled, imagining Alice and James and Kate and maybe even Claire there. He couldn't be sure about the last one, but he had hope. Who would think, was the last thing in his mind, that in the end he would settle for faith.

Jack cursed loudly when Alice sped off in her car and then he just turned around, coming back home.

"David!" he called his son name and then, when he didn't hear any answer, he walked straight to the boy's room and pushed the door open, ignoring any kind of privacy the kid always insisted he deserved.

The room stood empty and in that moment Jack actually felt fear.

He was scared that Alice was right. In fact, she was because no matter how hard he tired, he couldn't take care of his son, right now failing miserably as the boy must've run away. He'd probably heard everything Jack and Alice had been yelling at each other just a few minutes ago.

"Damn it!" Jack cursed and ran out of the house, thinking that David couldn't have run far.