Night. Jungle. Darkness. Jin slowly comes to and hears his walkie squawking: the hostile has escaped! Jin radios in that he was just attacked and the hostile is heading north. Then Jin hears young Ben struggling to breathe and finds him lying in a heap in the road... shot and bleeding.
At the barracks, the fire from the flaming van and house are now out. Horace thinks the hostile used the fire as a diversion to escape. Jack points out that if he was locked up, how could he start the fire. Horace says he had help, someone who let him out of his cell. And since there wasn't any other hostile crossing the perimeter, that means it was one of them.
Roger and Kate are pulling the van out of the house when they see Jin screech up to the infirmary and carry the wounded Ben inside. Roger realizes it's his kid and runs over, following them inside. Kate watches in disbelief.
WHOOSH to three years ago as Kate pulls up to a suburban home with baby Aaron. She carries him to the front door and rings the bell. Cassidy answers and is thrilled to see Kate. Cassidy saw the news reports about Kate surviving the crash and told all her friends she knew that woman. But she never thought she'd see Kate again. Then she asks why Kate is there, and Kate tells her that Sawyer sent her.
Kate tells Cassidy the truth about the crash, about living on the island and when leaving it what Sawyer whispered to her. Cassidy can't believe that sonofabitch is still alive. And he asked Kate to come see her? Bring her money? Kate says it's to take care of Clementine. Cassidy asks why Kate told her all this? Why Kate trusts her? Kate says because her daughter deserves to know her father cared about her. Cassidy thinks Sawyer is a coward. He jumped off the helicopter to get away from his responsibilities to her and Clementine... and to Kate. Kate says no, the helicopter was too heavy. He was trying to help. Cassidy asks if Aaron is Sawyer's baby. Kate says no, she was already pregnant when she met him. Cassidy doesn't believe her and asks why she's lying. Kate says because she has to.
WHOOSH to the Dharma security station. Kate confronts Sawyer and asks if it was Sayid who shot Ben. Sawyer warns her to keep her mouth shut and not draw attention to herself. Horace walks in and wants to know what she's doing there. Sawyer tells him Kate works in the motor pool, and he was asking if she saw any suspicious activity. She didn't, so he says she can go. Kate leaves.
Horace and Sawyer check the cell and find a set of keys hanging from the lock. Sawyer points out that they are janitor's keys. Horace says they only have three janitors: Roger, Willie and the new guy, Jack. Sawyer leaves to talk to Roger and finds him at the infirmary. He asks about Ben, but Roger doesn't know how he's doing. Sawyer asks if he has his keys with him, and Roger can't find them. He says he must have left them at the house.
Inside the infirmary, Juliet is doing all she can to stop the bleeding and save Ben, but she isn't succeeding. Sawyer asks where's the doctor, and Juliet says he's down in the Looking Glass station until Friday. But someone needs to get inside and fix all the damage the bullet did. Ben needs a real surgeon.
Miles has rounded up Jack, Kate and Hurley and put them under house arrest. Jack isn't happy about it, but Kate says Sawyer's just doing his job. Sawyer rushes in and tells Jack they need him in the infirmary to operate on Ben. Jack says no. Sawyer tells him that if he doesn't go with him, Ben's gonna die. Jack says then he dies. Kate is furious. He's a 15 year-old boy. Jack can't just let him die. Jack says they can't change what's happened and that it has nothing to do with him. Unless he's supposed to save him, Kate points out. Jack says he already did one surgery on Ben and saved him, so won't do it again. Maybe the island wants to fix things itself. Kate tells him she doesn't like the new him, and Jack points out that she didn't like the old him either.
Kate goes to the infirmary. She heard Ben needed blood, and she's a universal donor. Juliet prepares the transfusion as Roger bursts in and demands to know what's going on with his son. Juliet tries to get him out, but Kate says Roger can sit with her. Roger tells Kate that Ben stole his keys and let the hostile out because of him. He's not a good father and he knows it, but he's trying to do his best. Ben goes into arrest, and Juliet kicks both Kate and Roger out. Juliet stabilizes Ben, then she gives Roger a list of supplies she needs from the medical station and asks him to go get them. Roger thanks her for doing everything she can to save Ben and leaves. Juliet turns to Kate and tells her the truth -- Ben is going to die if they don't do something -- and then Juliet gets an idea: the Others can save Ben.
Kate drives around a van, and they load Ben in the back. Kate tells Juliet she'll go alone. If she is caught or stopped, it won't matter. But Juliet has a whole life there. Juliet tells her that Sawyer will find out Ben's gone. She'll give Kate as much a head start as she can.
WHOOSH to night at the marina parking lot. Kate learns Ben and Jack want to go back to the island, and she thinks that's why Jack pretended to care about Aaron -- so he could talk her into going. She calls them all insane and leaves. As she and Aaron drive home, Aaron asks for some milk. Kate pulls into a grocery store and takes Aaron inside. She looks away from him for a moment to check her cell phone (it's Jack calling) when she realizes Aaron isn't at her side. He's gone.
Kate races through the aisles looking for him but can't find him. Then she sees him walking towards the exit holding hands with a woman with long blond hair. Kate thinks it's Claire! She's there to take Aaron away! Kate races towards them yelling out -- and the woman turns. It's not Claire, it's just an ordinary, sweet young woman. She found him in the fruit section, and he looked lost. She was taking him to the registers to make an announcement. Kate thanks the woman, and they leave.
Kate drives to Cassidy's house and breaks down talking to her. As scared as she was about losing Aaron, she wasn't surprised. All she could think was it's about time. Why does she expect him to be taken away? Cassidy says it's because Kate took him. Kate says she had to, but Cassidy says she needed to. Sawyer broke her heart. How else was she supposed to fix it?
WHOOSH back to the island as Kate drives up to the pylons. How is she going to get through them? Then she hears Ben speaking weakly from the back. He asks her to tell his dad he's sorry he stole his keys, then he passes out again. Kate sees Sawyer pull up in a van behind her. Kate tells him she won't let Ben die, and Sawyer tells her he's there to help her.
At Jack's house, Juliet confronts him and tells him that Kate and Sawyer are trying to save Ben because they care. Jack says he came back because he cared. He came back because he's trying to save them. Juliet yells at him that they don't need saving. They're fine, they've been fine for three years. Jack came back for himself, and Juliet demands to know why. Jack says he was supposed to. Juliet asks supposed to do what? Jack doesn't know, and Juliet tells him he better figure it out.
Sawyer carries Ben through the jungle. Kate tells him that she saw Cassidy and Clementine, and tells him that Clementine looks like him. She has his dimples. And Cassidy has a theory on why he jumped from the helicopter: that he was scared of what would've happened if he didn't. Sawyer says that it never would've worked out between them. He wasn't fit to be her boyfriend anymore than he was fit to be Clementine's father. Kate says that he seems to be doing fine with Juliet now, and Sawyer says he's done a lot of growing up in the last three years. Suddenly, Sawyer and Kate are surrounded by Others. They're over the line and in violation of the truce. Sawyer says he knows, but the kid's been shot and it's both their problems. He wants to talk to Richard Alpert.
WHOOSH to a motel near LAX airport as Kate knocks on a door. Claire's mom, Carole, answers and is surprised to see Kate there. There's no way to prepare Carole, so Kate just lets loose and tells Carole everything: Aaron is her grandson, and Claire is still alive. Kate explains that the rescue story was a lie, that Claire disappeared somewhere on the island, and that she lied about Aaron to protect everyone on the island. Carole is overwhelmed with the story but can see that Kate truly, deeply loves Aaron. Kate says she is giving Aaron to Carole. Kate already explained to Aaron that she'd be back soon and that Carole is his grandmother. Carole asks where she's going, and Kate says back to find Claire.
WHOOSH to the island as the Others take Kate, Sawyer and Ben to Alpert. Sawyer explains that he was shot, and Kate asks if Alpert can save him. Alpert tells them that if he does, Ben won't be the same again. He will forget this ever happened and that his innocence will be gone. And from then on he will be one of them. Sawyer and Kate look at each other. Do they still want Alpert to take him? Kate says yes. One of the Others warns Alpert he shouldn't be doing this without asking Ellie, and if Charles finds out... But Alpert says he doesn't answer to either of them.
Alpert carries Ben into the jungle and up to the Temple ruins where Montand lost his arm. Alpert looks at it with reverence and fear. He continues through a doorway to whatever lies behind the walls as we --
WHOOSH to Hydra island and the makeshift infirmary. John Locke sits besides adult Ben's bed as Ben wakes up. Locke says hello. Ben is very surprised to see Locke there. Locke seems pleased, though, as he welcomes Ben back to the land of the living.
[Edit]
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