Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and Miles Straume (Ken Leung) argue about what to do about leader of the Others, Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), and Miles's colleague Charlotte, both sought after by Miles and his colleagues and taken prisoner by Locke. Sayid pays his respects to Naomi Dorrit, and takes her bracelet. He then offers to retrieve Charlotte without bloodshed, in return gaining a helicopter flight to the freighter anchored offshore. He takes along Miles and Kate. Sayid asks Jack not to come with them as he might be unpredictable around Locke.

While Sayid is gone, Daniel asks Regina (Zoë Bell), a colleague on the freighter to shoot a projectile onto the island. Regina does so, but the projectile does not arrive for thirty minutes. When it lands, Daniel extracts a clock from the payload and finds that the two times, that running on the island and that running outside, are not synchronized.

The survivors led by Locke arrive at the location of Jacob's cabin, but find the area deserted. Locke changes his course to the barracks, and uses Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) to ambush Sayid, Kate and Miles. Kate is watched by James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), and they discuss their reasons for wanting or not wanting to go home. Kate, realizing that she would be arrested for her crimes upon rescue, defects to Locke's group. Sayid negotiates with Locke to exchange Charlotte with Miles, in order to get access to the boat. Locke tells him that wouldn't be necessary as Ben has a spy on that freighter, to which Sayid responds that he would rather sell his soul than trust Ben.

At the helicopter, Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) confronts pilot Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) about the picture Naomi had of him and his ex-fiancé Penelope Widmore (Sonya Walger). Frank denies any knowledge of her, but Desmond nevertheless demands a place on a helicopter. At the same time, Sayid returns, with only Charlotte. While Frank accuses Sayid of being dishonest, he considered Miles a "pain in the ass", and agrees to fly him offshore.

The episode's flashforwards are centered on Sayid, who had since become one of the Oceanic Six. He is hired as an assassin, and courts a German woman, Elsa (Thekla Reuten), in order to get closer to her employer (the eponymous "economist"). After several dates, Sayid turns on Elsa, who reveals herself to be a counter-spy by unexpectedly shooting Sayid in the shoulder. Sayid is able to shoot and kill Elsa. As the episode ends, Sayid is treated for his wound by Ben, who gives him another assignment. Sayid is now wary since they now know that he's after them, to which Ben replies, "Good".