Air Date: 28/02/2008

Writers: Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof

Director: Jack Bender

Desmond and Sayid are in the chopper heading out to the freighter when they hit a storm. Lightning flashes and suddenly Desmond finds himself in a military training base in 1996. Disoriented, he thinks the island and the helicopter are just a dream. Before he can explain anything more, he is back on the chopper, panicked and confused. He does not know who Sayid is.

Back at the beach, Faraday explains that the perception of time passed on the island is not necessarily correct – the reason they haven’t heard from the helicopter in over a day is because it hasn’t been gone that long.

On the freighter, Desmond freaks out and is taken to the sick bay, where he continues to flash back to 1996. Faraday tells Desmond that the next time he goes back, he must travel to Oxford University to find the younger Faraday, who can help him. The young Faraday tells Desmond that in order to stabilise the time jumps, he must find something in both time lines that can act as his constant, or he’ll die.

In 1996, Desmond races to Penny’s house and frantically convinces her to give him her phone number. He says he won’t call until eight years later, and begs her to keep the same number. Bewildered, Penny reluctantly agrees. Back on the freighter, Desmond is able to call Penny. She says she loves him and will find him. The phone goes dead but it was enough to stabilise Desmond.

On the island, Faraday sees an entry in his journal that reads, “If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.”