They didn't talk about what had happened between them at all since they both knew it couldn't happen again. Obviously, there could be serious repercussions. Alice didn't even want to think about a possible pregnancy. Yes, she wanted a family one day as she'd lost hers, but having a baby while being stranded on an island where so many crazy things happened and where there was no medical equipments or hospitals was not exactly how she imagined it.

As it turned out, they also couldn't do much for Claire. Locke was still trying to find a new track and decide which way she'd been taken, but the chances were low. They didn't know what to do and where to look and they didn't have enough manpower to search the island, especially with possibly a lot of other people out there and a mysterious monster. Added to that, they didn't even know how big the island was or whether they would found shelter for the night or water once they ran out of it. It all made Alice feel very frustrated, so eventually she just decided to go to the beach and check up on Charlie while Jack agreed to help Kate with something.

The couple parted for the day, but maybe it was a good thing, Alice thought as she finally emerged from the jungle and found herself on the beach. She would simply occupy both her thoughts and time with something else. She would keep herself busy and that would be useful to everyone, she finally decided.

She spotted Charlie, so she walked over to him and sat down by his side.

"Hi," she said, trying not to look at his still bruised neck too closely. She couldn't even imagine how much it must've hurt, not to mention the mental agony of wondering if he could've done something more to save Claire. "How are you?" Alice asked another question, but Charlie still hadn't said a word to her. She didn't know what to do in such a situation. She wasn't good when it came to getting people to talk. It just felt awkward and more uncomfortable for her with every passing minute. She knew she should probably tell him how they would surely find Claire and they would all be all right, but could she really lie to him like that? It didn't take a genius to figure out that whatever she said could turn out to be a big, fat lie. Because they were in danger. Because there were people out there and because neither she nor Jack or anyone else could guarantee Claire's safety.

In the end, Rose came over, asking Charlie to help her as she was dragging a part of the plane with her. It took a while, but eventually she got him to get up and give her a hand for which Alice sent her a grateful, yet sad smile.

And then Shannon suddenly ran past her, crying.

"Shannon?" Alice followed, wanting to be useful at least this way. "Shannon, what's wrong?" she asked when catching up with the blonde near the jungle where she sat on a trunk of a fallen tree.

"I'm useless," Shannon said as she kept on crying. "Everyone says so and I'm actually starting to believe it."

"What? You're not useless," Alice protested when joining her friend on the trunk. "No one really is and if they don't see how special you are, then screw them. They're idiots."

Shannon actually laughed through her tears on hearing that.

"I can't translate Rousseau's papers for Sayid," she finally explained. "He said I was talking rubbish for a whole hour of his precious time."

"So what? Maybe the French woman isn't as sane as she used to be. You did enough, Shannon. Thanks to you we found out about her and what her message said in the first place. That was a huge help and then Sayid managed to find her and she told him that we weren't alone." Alice wasn't sure whether there really was much logic in what she just said, but Shannon didn't seem to care. Her mood clearly improved. She hugged Alice in gratitude and then she gasped.

"It's a song!" she yelled and Alice just shot her a blank look. "I know what the papers say!" she explained quickly and then she was just gone.

Alice only shook her head and after a while of mingling among the people on the beach, she slowly made her way back to the caves.

"Are you all right?" she asked Jack when she spotted him and noticed that he was angry. "How did it go with Kate?" she followed with another question when sitting by his side.

"Kate's a liar," Jack informed, "and I'm sick of it. She and Sawyer are really worth each other."

Alice didn't say anything to that. She just rested her head on Jack's shoulder. Maybe he was right. She herself had trouble establishing any friendship with Kate because the woman never seemed to let her guards down and whenever Alice asked something, Kate either gave her an evasive answer or lied straight to her face.

"No sign of Claire," Alice then said when taking Jack's hand and intertwining her fingers with his.

"No sign of Claire," he repeated with a sigh, putting his arm around her.

Sadly, everyone started settling in on the island and getting used to their new life style. It was as though they'd already given up. Sun even planted her own garden. Alice truly didn't know whether she should be happy that they would have herbs or not. Was there anyone looking for a way out of the island anymore? She wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sawyer who just came to the caves and started going through Jack's stuff.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked in a tone that indicated she was rather angry than willing to help.

Sawyer stilled and then straightened up, looking at her just standing there with her arms folded across her chest.

"Ok, sweetheart," he started when putting his hands in front of him, "this is so not what it looks like. Jack was supposed to give me my last dose of medication today for the wound in my arm and he's nowhere to be seen, so I decided to look for it myself. Where's the doc anyway? Romancing some other girl?"

Alice sighed when he said that. She was already getting though Jack's stuff and grabbing the right bottle to give Sawyer his pill. "I don't get it," she said then.

"And what would that be?" Sawyer prompted when taking the pill from her and swallowing it.

"You and that attitude," she explained. "You're not doing yourself any favors, you know. We've all been through hell. All of our lives got crappy sometimes. We all made mistakes, I'm sure of it. So whatever it is that's bothering you, just drop it."

"Oh, really? And what can you really know about life, sweetheart?"

There was something in his eyes, something that told her that he wasn't as tough as he pretended to be. So far, she'd felt nothing but resentment towards him, but now she could tell that he was the way he was because of something dark in his past, some kind of a secret or pain that influenced everything else. And exactly that vulnerability he was obviously covering with insults and gruffness pushed her to just tell him the truth.

"Actually, I know a lot," she said idly. "I lost my entire family in a car crash. My twin sister died on an operating table. I was the only one who survived and I have no one now. I was in Australia to scatter their ashes, because we were always dreaming of taking a trip there and… the plane I was coming home to on, crashed."

There was silence as Sawyer was just looking at her, processing those words, maybe trying to assess if she wasn't making it all up. Eventually, he told her the truth as well since it only seemed fair. In fact, he told her more than he ever had Kate.

"When I was little, my mother had an affair with a conman. He convinced her to invest all of our money, told her that she would get it back tripled. In the end, he stole from us and my father killed her and then himself. Ever since that happened, I've been trying to find that man and in the process, I became him. My name isn't even Sawyer. It's James. James Ford. And I was in Australia to kill Sawyer. Only the man turned out not to be him."

Alice was speechless when she heard that and didn't really know how to respond. In the end, she just said the best thing she could. She understood that they didn't want pity or compassion from each other. They were just sharing their stories and they wanted to do it without shedding tears and exchanging hugs. "You see? We're all the same and we all have our own demons."

"If you tell what I just told you to anyone, I'll deny it," Sawyer immediately threatened, putting his mask back on again and she nearly laughed at the sudden change.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," she assured him and saw something softening in his eyes.

"Yeah… thanks," he brushed it off quickly.

The moment was broken by Jack coming back.

"Sawyer," he said with a nod.

"It's ok, Jack. I already gave him the pill," Alice assured her boyfriend.

"And I was just leaving," Sawyer informed and then walked a few steps before he came to a stop and turned back to Jack, "She's a catch, doc and easy on the eye," he said. "If I were you, I would hold on to her." After that, he finally left.

Alice nearly smiled, figuring that it was the best compliment she could hope to receive from the man.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked her in surprise.

"Getting through to people," she told him when looking at the blond retreating. In that moment, she felt like they could eventually become friends even though it already sounded crazy in her head. Sometimes people surprised you.

Alice truly didn't understand what the fuss was all about. Michael came up with a plan to build a raft and she really liked that idea, desperately wanting to just get the hell out of the island, but others didn't necessary shared her enthusiasm. She got their point of view as well, she really did. Building up a raft and venturing off into the unknown could have disastrous consequences, but they owed it to themselves to try. No one was coming to help them, that much was obvious by now. Building a raft seemed like their only chance unless they wanted to stay on the island indefinitely. And she so didn't want that. Especially after the awkward moment when she was alone with Jack and they kissed. They'd already crossed the line and it couldn't happen again.

Eventually, he pushed her away.

"Alice… I'm… I'm sorry. It's just… you know that I want to…"

"Help isn't coming, Jack," she just said. "And we should make our peace with that. There's no way we're getting out of this island unless the raft works. That's also why it has to work."

"It's not even that," Jack then told her, choosing his words carefully. Apparently, he was just as embarrassed as she was about the whole situation. "It's not that I'm afraid that you'll get pregnant," he finally said. "It's that I… I can't really afford to have a child."

Alice frowned when listening to him.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

"You know about my father and my insecurities where it comes to him," Jack tried to explain as best as he could and quite frankly, he didn't even have to tell her more. Suddenly, everything became very clear to her. "I also told you that I was married once."

"Yeah, to a woman whose spine you fixed," Alice remembered. "You said that in the end you wanted to help her too badly and you marr… Wait a sec… Is this what this is?" Alice suddenly asked, pointing herself and then him. "You're saving me and that's why you're with me?"

"No!" he denied quickly. "Trust me when I say that what I feel for you is real. It's just… Sarah wanted kids and I was never ready. I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good father, that I would hurt my kid instead of loving him or her and showing them the right kind of support they'd need."

"To me it sounds like you know exactly what it means to be a good father, Jack. You know it well, because you never had one yourself."

"Maybe," he admitted with a sigh, "but still, I don't think I'm ready for that just yet."

"I understand," she assured him. Then she suddenly got an idea…

First, Sawyer started laughing. When he finally stopped, he said, "You got balls, I'll give you that! But unluckily for you, no, sweetheart, I ain't got any condoms."

"Well… was a long shot anyway, but I thought someone on the plane must've had some and you rummaged through it all yourself…" she hinted.

"Would've already used it all by now anyway." He shrugged to which she raised her eyebrows. "What?!"

"Nothing." She started laughing. "I just don't think you'd find anyone willing on the island, considering…" her voice trailed off significantly.

"Considering what?!"

"You're kind of an asshole, James," she eventually told him and his mouth opened widely.

"I beg you, pardon!"

"Well, it's true!"

She was surprised she actually enjoyed the conversation with him and the playfulness of it. She'd used to hate the guy, even felt disgusted by him, but now that she'd gotten to know him a little bit better, she actually grew to like him. Until he usually opened his mouth some more, that was.

While sometime later in the evening, Alice and Jack enjoyed a walk, they suddenly heard suspicious rustling and then noticed someone approaching.

At the sight, Jack reflexively covered Alice with his own body when…

"Claire?" he asked, shocked on seeing the pregnant woman coming out of the trees.

There was a huge commotion in the caves when the survivors spotted that Jack and Alice were bringing Claire back. Charlie was the first one by their side, asking what had happened and where they'd found the girl. Still, it wasn't like they could give him a good enough answer.

Jack lay Claire down on a blanket and immediately started checking her up for any injuries, eventually looking into her eyes. She'd lost consciousness once she'd stumbled upon him and Alice and was just now slowly regaining it. And then, as soon as her eyes focused on the people gathered around her, her pupils dilated as she didn't recognize any of them. She started screaming and frantically moving backwards when asking, "Who are you, people?!"

In the end, Jack figured that Claire must've been suffering from some kind of amnesia and even if it was rare, it was possible. She truly didn't recognize anyone and she had made a lot of wonderful friends among the survivors. The situation changed drastically when Charlie was approached by Ethan in the jungle. The man threatened that if they didn't return Claire to him, he would kill one of them and then another with every passing day.

"We can't give her to him!" Charlie immediately protested.

"I know, Charlie, I know," Jack admitted when pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to come up with a solution. "What if we track him?" He then turned to Locke who was also present. "Can you do it?"

"Maybe," the older man admitted. "But what if he's not alone? Do you really think he could pull it all off by himself? Taking a pregnant woman and a grown-up man? And then hanging this man on a tree while… while what was happening to Claire?" Locke asked the perfect question and Jack saw the logic behind his reasoning.

"We'll gather our people and guard them. We'll watch them overnight, so nothing will get past us," Sayid suggested the best solution – or so it seemed.

The next morning a woman started screaming on the beach. There was a body there. The guy, Scott, was one of them and it clearly wasn't just an accident as his bones and neck were broken. Ethan and any possible allies of his had come from the water and there was nothing the survivors could do to stop it in the end. Alice was terrified, her old fears and insecurities returning to her. She didn't want to die just when she found a good enough reason to go on living. Not when even though she had no family, she wasn't alone. Her time on the island had recently gotten so much better. She'd been falling in love, she'd made friends and even found pleasure when talking to people that before she'd thought of as unpleasant and unlikable.

Just when they had no other idea of how to survive another night and avoid Ethan killing them all, Claire found out about him from Shannon and offered to put an end to it all by playing bait. It was highly dangerous for a pregnant woman, but what other choice they had?

Jack quickly gathered up a small group which would watch Claire and wait for Ethan to show up so they could capture and interrogate him.

"Alice, you need to stay here," he told her in a soft voice when she volunteered to help, too.

"Jack, I can't stay behind," she disagreed immediately. "I know you want to keep me safe, but I want to help. I want to be there, so I'll know that you'll be all right. I can't just sit around and wait!"

"And I can't have one more person to protect," he explained, not even getting angry with her. "We need to focus on Claire's and our own safety. We can't watch out for you, too. I know you can take care of yourself, Alice," he added quickly, "but you can't shoot a gun and that's our only protection against Them."

She knew that. She saw the reasoning behind his words. But it was still hard for her to let him go like this.

"Didn't you have four guns?" she asked.

"I only have three people who know how to use them," Jack said.

"Sawyer can shoot pretty well," she informed then.

"Sawyer can shoot?" Jack repeated. It wasn't as though he couldn't believe her, it was that she immediately thought of the blond guy. "You can't be serious."

"He killed a polar bear right in front of me, Jack," Alice reminded him. "You might not like him, but you need all the people you can get and you know it. And it would be sweet that you're so jealous of him if it wasn't for the circumstances," she then added cockily.

"Jealous? I'm not…" he started.

"Oh, yes, you are," she interrupted him and put her arms around his neck, bringing him closer and kissing him. "Just be careful, ok?"

"Always am," he said and she made a face that told him she didn't believe him. He smiled at her then and walked away with the rest.

While Jack with Sawyer, Sayid, Locke, Boone, Kate and most importantly, Claire, were gone, Alice was going out of her mind with worrying. Luckily for her, Shannon stayed by her side and kept her company. They didn't know where Charlie was, though. He should've been in the caves with them since Jack wanted him to stay behind, but something told Alice that he hadn't and she could only hope he wouldn't do anything stupid that would put the others' safety in jeopardy.

And then, they finally came back, all wet from the rain that had surprised them earlier in the jungle. The weather acting crazy all over the island was yesterday's news. It could be all sunny and hot one second just to start pouring heavily in the next.

Alice saw with relief that all her friends and Jack came back to the camp. She then jumped to her feet and ran straight into the latter's arms. He caught her and embraced tightly even though his clothes were all wet whereas she was dry.

"Where's Ethan?" she asked when not seeing the perpetrator anywhere. "Didn't he show up?"

"Oh, he did," Jack answered with a sigh when letting her go, "but Charlie shot him dead."

"What? Why?" Alice wanted to know.

"He never wanted him to go near Claire ever again," Jack explained.

"So, we're still grasping in the dark here. Claire doesn't remember anything and we have no way of knowing what Ethan really wanted with her and if he was even alone."

"Exactly," Jack confirmed, his expression morose.