Days were passing by fast, each a difficult one as the survivors were still struggling to go on with no help coming on the horizon and just then, one night things seemed to reach their peak as someone started screaming.

"It's Claire!" Alice recognized the voice and jumped to her feet, Jack following suit.

When they reached the place where Claire was sleeping, Charlie and Hurley were already by her side and the first man tried to calm her down, "It's all right, it's all right," he kept on saying. "You've just had a bad dream. It's all right."

In the end, the mother-to-be calmed down enough to listen to her friend and after Jack examined and assured her that everything was all right with the baby, she tried to go back to sleep. Then Jack took Charlie aside and Alice followed.

"I'm afraid she's going to have the baby soon," the doctor voiced his concerns. "And here… with no medicine and no way to see if everything's really ok… we'll just be going blind. Charlie, I need you to take care of her, make sure she's relaxed. The more stressed out she becomes, the more likely she'll go into labor and we have to postpone it as much as we can."

The musician nodded, but Alice could see how terribly pale he was. When he went to check up on Claire, she turned back to Jack.

"Don't say it," he warned her.

"But we need to have a plan in case the worst happens," she prompted.

"There'll never be a plan, Alice," he answered in a defeated voice. "We'll just have to do the best we can and pray that everything with Claire and the baby will be all right… Now I think we all need to get some sleep."

The fourth of them: Alice, Jack, Charlie and even Hurley did whatever they could the following day to make Claire feel comfortable and relaxed and Alice even took her for a small walk with Shannon in the afternoon as Jack said that the mother needed the exercise as well.

Still, none of it mattered since when they all went to sleep that night – exhausted because of the incident from the previous one – Claire started screaming all over again. This time worse than before.

"Somebody tried to hurt my baby!" she kept it up even when Jack and Charlie got to her. "He had a needle! He injected me with something! He wanted to kill my baby!"

"Claire! Claire!" Jack had to raise his voice as well. "Look at me. Just look at me. You're safe. You're all right. No one's trying to hurt you or the baby."

"I swear it's the truth! Someone was here!"

While Jack was checking Claire's stomach, Charlie and Hugo exchanged worried glances.

"She needs to be watched over all the time," Jack finally decided when making sure Claire had no needle marks on her belly. "Just in case."

"Dude, we've been here for weeks and we don't even know each other!" Hurley then pointed out. "Everyone keeps getting attacked and we have no way of knowing who did what."

"What are you getting at?" Jack asked, clearly tired after two almost sleepless nights.

"I say we need to make a list of all the passengers and ask where everybody was the last two nights. Maybe it's nothing, but maybe Claire's right and there's really someone trying to hurt her."

"Can you take care of that, Hugo?" Jack just asked, feeling so exhausted that he didn't even have enough strength to spend time with Alice. Or maybe that was actually a good thing, he decided, considering that they were on a deserted island.

"Sure, I can. It's not like I have something better to do! Right on it, doc!"

"So, your name's Alice Stevens and you owe a bookshop," Hurley repeated all the information Alice had given him so far. "All right, cool. I like books. Now… your reason for visiting Australia?" he asked and suddenly, Alice tensed up. She wasn't prepared to hear that particular question, so she was immediately bombarded by unwanted memories.

"It's cool, Hurley." Luckily for her, Jack noticed that and came over. "She's all right. She couldn't have attacked Claire and you know it. Just let it go."

Hugo felt embarrassed since he obviously asked something that put Alice in a bad mood. On the other hand, he couldn't have known.

"It's ok, Jack. Thanks," Alice finally said when touching his shoulder. "It just took me off guard… I was scattering the ashes of my family. That's why I was in Australia," she answered Hugo and it caused the big guy to feel even worse.

"Oh, dude, I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll go check on Claire," she volunteered and made her way to her friend.

"How are you? Feeling any better?" she asked the blonde when she joined her.

Claire seemed to be deeply immersed into her own thoughts when Alice appeared.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess so," she answered with a shrug and then she spoke again like she really wanted to get something off her chest. "Do you think I'm being punished?" she suddenly asked.

"What? Why?" Alice was surprised to hear that.

"I… I wanted to give my baby up for adoption," Claire confessed. "I didn't think I could take care of him myself with the father out of the picture."

"Claire, there's nothing wrong with that," Alice assured her when taking her friend's hand and squeezing gently. "You were just doing what you thought was best for your kid."

"Yeah, but… I still feel like I'm being punished. Can you believe that I saw a psychic some time ago? He actually told me that I absolutely must keep the baby, that he couldn't be raised without me and he was so persistent that I eventually believed him. He told me there was a way for the baby to be happy if I really was sure I couldn't…" Claire came to a sudden stop and then she gasped.

"Claire?" Alice asked, unsure of what just happened. "Claire, are you alright?"

"He knew," she said. "That bastard must've known!"

"Knew what?"

Claire looked at Alice and then she finally explained, "One moment he tells me that I absolutely must keep the baby and the next he tells me that there's a family in America that can take him. And then he gives me this ticket and says it has to be this flight. Flight Oceanic 815."

"You think there really was no family and he knew the plane was going to crash?" Alice finished, actually feeling goose bumps all over her body. "But why didn't he warn the airline?"

"Who would listen to him anyway?" Claire just asked and Alice realized that it was the truth. "The funny thing is that I wanted to give this baby up so badly and now… now I can't imagine my life without him," she suddenly confessed with a nervous shrug.

"Are you sure it's a he?"

"Something tells me that it is."

"It's all right to change your mind, you know."

In that moment, Jack came over, holding some pills in his hand and a bottle of water. "Here, take this, it will help you relax."

"But the baby…" Claire started.

"It's completely safe. Just take it and maybe you'll feel better tonight."

"Wait… you think I made it all up! You think there was no guy, do you?!" Claire got mad and started arguing with Jack who tried a calmer approach, but eventually that strategy failed and Claire just strolled off into the jungle. Charlie saw that and ran after her, previously asking Jack what the hell he'd done to her.

"That's just great," Jack sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead.

"You really think she might've been dreaming? It seemed pretty intense like for a dream," Alice admitted when sitting by his side and placing her hand on his knee.

"I don't know. I just have to think of every possibility and this is the most plausible one."

Yet, before he managed to say more, Sayid suddenly came running towards them until he collapsed. Jack was by his side in a flash, led by his medical instinct and he was already checking for possible injuries.

"The French woman… I found her," the Iraqi said raggedly. "She said we're not alone here."

Jack and Alice looked at each other, sharing their fears. Was it possible that there were other people on the island? If so, why hadn't they helped them when the plane had crashed? Why hadn't they made themselves known? The simplest of answers was also the most terrifying.

If that wasn't enough, soon Hurley followed Sayid, screaming, "Guys! Guys! We got a problem! I got the flight manifest! I interviewed everyone and… one of them isn't on the manifest! One of them wasn't on the plane!"

"What?" Jack turned to face the guy, perplexed.

"That guy! Ethan! He wasn't on the plane! He must've already been on the island!"

"Where is he now?!" Jack asked sharply.

"I saw him picking up wood earlier, but then he disappeared," Michael followed with an explanation when coming closer.

"Wait… where's Claire and Charlie?" Hugo looked around, just now noticing the two gone.

"Oh my god! Jack!" Alice then exclaimed when realizing the danger.

When he met her eyes, he didn't say anything, he just ran straight into the jungle, clearly trying to catch up with both Charlie and Claire. Alice immediately ran after him, not wanting to let him out of her sight now that they both knew there was real danger out there. And if she lost him… she didn't even want to think about that possibility.

Jack stopped pretty fast, not really knowing where to go next and Alice joined him, breathing heavily from the rush. Soon enough, Locke, Kate and Boone caught up with them.

"There are three distinct footprints here," John informed when studying the ground, "and signs of a struggle."

Alice paled on hearing that and Jack just started calling out for Claire until Locke stopped him by putting his finger to his mouth. He was right, Alice thought. Whoever had taken both Claire and Charlie, had to overpower them somehow.

"Where did they go?" Jack asked in a much quieter voice.

"Don't worry, I can track them," John assured him.

"All right," the doctor nodded and then turned to Alice. "Come back to the caves," he told her.

"What? No!" she protested quickly.

"Alice, this is dangerous."

"And I can take care of myself! Besides, I am not going to lose you, Jack! I'm coming with and we'll both be watching out for ourselves! Claire is my friend and I could've stopped her."

"I could have, too, but we didn't."

"Exactly. So now let's just go and get her back, ok?"

There really was no time to argue and the rest had already disappeared further into the jungle, leaving the pair to quarrel. Soon enough, Jack and Alice caught up, not saying anything and just watching out for any signs Charlie or Claire might have left behind. It paid off since they found pieces of the tape Charlie had pasted around his fingers. It looked as though he was leaving them a trail.

They didn't speak for a while and Jack couldn't help but think of Alice's sister, Annie, as they walked towards a possible trap. He couldn't let anything happen to his girlfriend, but it wasn't as though he could tie her up in the caves and leave. She would never forgive him for that; not that he could actually do such a thing. Alice was a free and independent woman and he needed to accept that and protect her as much as he could in those circumstances. He had no right to take her choices away by telling her to stay behind.

His father was on call that night, but Jack was still sent for. The nurse who notified him was risking a lot, but she was too scared to do nothing. Christian Shephard was apparently operating on a woman who'd been in a car accident and was fighting for her life. And he was performing that operation drunk.

When Jack finally got into the OR, it was already too late. Still, he pushed his father aside and did everything he could to save the girl. He didn't have the time to take a closer look at her, all he cared about was fixing her insides. And her insides were a mess.

He declared her death just a few minutes later, finally catching a glimpse of her face. She was young. Way too young to die and it hurt that he wasn't the one on call. It hurt that her death was probably caused by his own father who couldn't hold his liquor. Jack swallowed tears and then placed the sheet over the girl's face.

"I can't believe you," he started, deciding to turn his sorrow into rage. "You were doing a surgery on a girl who was in a car accident and was fighting for her life – DRUNK?!" He whirled to face his father.

"Her insides were a mess, Jack." Christian actually had the audacity to try and explain himself. "I couldn't have done anything and you know it!"

"I can't fucking believe this!" Jack screamed again and put his hands to his head. The nurse cleared the room quietly, leaving them alone. "You're actually trying to justify this?! Do you even care?!"

"She would have…"

"No, dad!" Jack flung his arms. "You don't know that! You can't know that! And what I know right now is that you screwed up when you could've saved her!"

After having said that, he left, slamming the door.

Jack remembered how he'd put the sheet over Anne's face – Alice's face. They looked the same. It as well might have been… he shook his head and looked at his girlfriend. He didn't think he would be able to bear losing her after he'd already lost her sister. If only he'd gotten to that OR faster, if only the nurse had called him sooner… Then again, if Anne had had lived, would have he still gotten to know her Alice? Probably yes. They would've probably taken the trip to Australia together and supported each other through it all. That was what should have happened. And it hadn't because of his father.

Jack never wanted to see Alice in danger ever again. He didn't want her dead face to haunt him. He decided he would do anything to protect her just like now he was doing it for Claire.

"Are you ok?" Alice asked when she noticed him staring at her with that peculiar look on his face.

"I didn't believe her," he simply said. "I gave her a sedative and tried to convince her that she imagined being attacked. I didn't keep her save, Alice and now she's gone. How can I keep you save after that?"

Before she managed to open her mouth and say something, Locke called for them. There were two trails and they had to split up. It turned out that Kate was a pretty good tracker herself, so she went with Jack and Alice whereas Locke and Boone headed the other way. They knew that one of those trails must've been a trap, but they had to try and find Claire anyway. She was pregnant, after all and they couldn't leave their own people behind.

After another few minutes of tracking, they suddenly heard something strange, something Sayid had mentioned to them before. If that wasn't a proof that there were other people on the island…

"Jack!" Kate called after him when he ran forward. "Jack, it might be dangerous!" Only he didn't listen. He never really did, Alice thought and sighed when following him.

They were climbing a slippery slope while it started raining. Jack was ahead, almost reaching the top and then he lost his hold on it and fell.

"JACK!" Alice roared, terrified for him and his life.

"Wait!" Kate warned her when she tried to find the fastest way down. "We'll get to him, but we need to be careful, ok? I'll find another way." They both reached the top and in that moment it stopped raining, making it easier for Kate to find a way back down again.

When Alice finally spotted Jack, she thought her heart stopped completely - he was lying on his back, not moving.

"Jack!" she called his name and got to him as fast as she could, leaving tired Kate behind. "Jack!" She got to her knees and gently cupped his face in fear he might've broken something or… worse. But she didn't want to think of anything worse. She just wanted him back. "Jack, can you hear me?" She reminded herself that she should check for pulse, but was too afraid. Luckily for her, he opened his eyes in that very moment and looked at her when being a little out of it. "Oh, thank god!" she exclaimed and couldn't help but lean forward and kiss him gently on the mouth. "Don't you ever do this to me again, understood?" she asked when moving backwards, so he could sit and eventually stand up. She still held him up though, afraid he would fall again.

"Ethan," he said. "He was here! And he went that way!"

"Jack, wait! You're exhausted!" Kate called after him.

"I won't let anyone else die!" He just kept on going.

"Jack, Anne wasn't your fault!" Alice told him when catching up with him. Somehow she understood that it was her sister that had been on his mind ever since Claire had been taken.

They didn't have the time to argue any longer because Kate suddenly screamed and they all saw what she did. It was Charlie. Charlie hanging from a tree.

"Quickly!" Jack yelled. "Cut him off!"

Alice could only stand there frozen, not able to move. This view was just too horrible for her, especially when she hadn't seen something like this in her entire life, not even when being in that accident. Not in real life.

It was Kate who ran towards the tree and started climbing it and eventually managed to cut the rope loose. Then Jack immediately began the CPR.

After a minute of his efforts, Alice covered her mouth with her hands and started to cry. It seemed obvious to her that Charlie was dead and Kate seemed to share that opinion.

"Come on!" Jack was desperate, refusing to give up. "Come on!"

"Jack… Jack, it's too late. He's gone," Kate finally said and tried to pull him away from Charlie's body.

In the end, she did manage to do that and Alice just regained the feeling in her legs and made a step forward when Jack shook his head frantically.

"No," he said. "No, not like this." He started punching Charlie's chest and Alice kept sobbing into the palms of her hands when watching it all happen, watching Jack trying to revive Charlie and Kate still trying to stop him.

They all stilled and Alice even stopped crying when Charlie suddenly took a desperate breath and sat up, his eyes opening widely in shock.

"Oh my god!" Alice exclaimed then, dropped to her knees and put her arms around Jack's neck. She couldn't stand this anymore. This was… this was almost unreal. Jack held her back tightly while watching the colors coming back to Charlie's face.

"How are you feeling?" he then asked the man and there was only one word coming from the blond's mouth, "Claire."

Charlie didn't speak at all while Jack was examining his neck back in the caves. In fact, he hadn't said a word except that one name when he'd been brought back. Eventually, there was really nothing more Jack could do, so he just told Charlie to get some rest. Still, Alice knew that the guy wouldn't be able to even if he tried.

Suddenly, Jack was right by her side. He took her hand and pulled her further into the jungle without saying anything. When they were finally alone, he grabbed her face and crashed his lips against hers. Next, he briefly broke the kiss and spoke nearly with his mouth against hers, "Stop me." It sounded like he was begging her. Then he kissed her again and she forgot what he said in the first place. She forgot where they were and what was happening around them. He'd never before kissed her like this and she couldn't possibly stop him. Not when he gently bit on her lower lip, when he sucked on in and licked a path along with his tongue. Not when his tongue dove right into her mouth, joined her own and did things… she didn't even know what he was doing, but her body gave in to him completely and she was kissing him back just as strongly. He might've asked her to stop him, but she couldn't possibly push him away now, instead she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer and then her hand slipped inside and touched his chest. She needed that piece of fabric out of the way, she decided and took it off of him. She was pretty sure a button or two snapped, but she didn't care. She had him standing right in front of her, half-naked. The kiss was momentarily broken when she looked at him and traced his muscles with her fingers and felt the hair on his chest. He didn't give her much time to explore his skin as he pushed her against a tree and kissed again, his lips descending to her neck, sucking on the raging pulse there; his hands covering her breasts and massaging for a moment before going down to cup her buttocks and squeeze gently when pressing his pelvis against hers. She gasped when she felt how hard and ready he was for her and she fit her hand between their bodies to undo the button on his jeans. As she did so, she had to raise her hands because he pulled on her shirt to take if off and then almost immediately his hands were on her back, trying to get to the clasp of her bra. Finally, it came undone and she, too, was half-naked now. When his hands were getting to know her breasts and his lips tried to caress the skin of her neck in the same time, she reached for his pants and pushed them down his hips, pulling the briefs with them…

In a hostile jungle full of craziness, they needed this, this relief. They needed to lose themselves within each other, consequences be damned. They could all be dead tomorrow, Ethan's threat ringing in Jack's mind, but he refused to give up. He would fight for his people till he died.