The creaking open of the hatch jostled Lincoln from his stupor.

"Get out," Miller said as Octavia popped her head through the hole in the floor.

"Relax." She smiled innocently, stopping halfway up the ladder. "I thought you might be hungry." She tossed Miller a packet. "A peace offering." Lincoln's eyes narrowed as he watched Miller catch it. "I shouldn't have come up here alone earlier. It was stupid and dangerous and..." She paused, sparing Lincoln a pitying glance. "He's not worth it. I won't tell Bellamy if you won't." That innocent smile was back.

What was his clever, little angel up to? Lincoln wondered as she climbed back down the ladder and closed the hatch behind her.

Miller shrugged to himself and pried open the package, pouring out a handful of nuts and dried berries. He tossed his head back and dribbled some into his mouth. "Want some?" He said mockingly with his mouth full.

Lincoln turned his head away and closed his eyes as he started on another sketch of Octavia in the gallery in his mind.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Miller's voice startled Lincoln out of his reverie. He cracked his swollen eye open to see what was the cause of the latest disruption.

Miller stared in confusion down through the open hatch in the floor at something below. "Well, I'm just going to have to fix it again, aren't I?" Miller said in exasperation as he clambered down the ladder and closed the hatch behind him.

A few minutes passed before the hatch re-opened. It was his angel again. She hurried over to him and dropped an armful of clothing on the floor. "Don't move," she said as she cut away the ropes binding his left hand.

"Uh! Aah." As his hand dropped free, the blood rushed to it, sending it tingling and cramping. He flexed his fingers as the feeling came back.

She sank to her knees before him and began working on untying his legs. "We need to go. Now," she said. She finished with his legs and moved over to the clothes on the floor to pull out a hoodie.

Lincoln freed his other hand, the one with the hole through it, panting as it throbbed and prickled. "Why are you doing this?" He collapsed onto his knees as his legs temporarily gave out without the support of the ropes.

"Just get dressed," she said, as she slid his arm through the sleeve of the hoodie.

"They'll know you helped me," he replied as she pulled the jacket over his other arm. "Aah!" He cried out, his arm muscles objecting at the movement.

She moved behind him, straightening out the jacket. "You said it: you stay here, you'll die." She picked up a thicker jacket from the pile of clothing. "I'm not gonna let that happen," she said with determination.

He shook his head. He hadn't saved her life for her to throw it away again on him. "I'm not gonna put you in danger." He didn't want to imagine what her people might do to her for this.

She pulled the other jacket over his arms. "You need to do this now."

"Okay." He was too weak to argue and she had proven him wrong enough times that he no longer doubted her but he still gave one final objection. "Even in these clothes, I'll be seen."

"People are seeing plenty of things right now." She moved busily around him as she helped him finish getting dressed and his heart fluttered at the intimacy.

He tried to stand. "Oh!"

She dipped beneath his right arm, using herself as a crutch for him. "Up you get."

"Uh!" Lincoln moaned as his legs shook and he staggered unevenly.

"Okay, let's go." She carefully guided him to the hatch.

"What'd you do?" he asked her.

"Set out some of our winter rations a little early." She stopped and turned him to face her. "Here." Her fingers fiddled with the zipper on his jacket.

"Jobi nuts," he said in admiration as she zipped up his jacket. "The food you gave my guard. They go bad, they cause visions, but it wears off." He was reminded of his broken ribs with every breath he spoke.

"Just try to get as far away as you can, okay?" She straightened out the lapels of his jacket as he nodded. "And try not to get yourself killed."

He nodded again, attempting to think about anything else besides how she had saved him once again. Anything else besides how close her face was to his, how he could taste the sweetness of berries upon her breath. He turned away to leave but froze, knowing he would never see her again, and was unable to move forward without one last look at his angel. He swallowed tightly, already lost in her allure.

One last look wasn't enough. He reached out, cupping her cheek in his left hand as his lips fell upon hers and he drank thirstily from her, seeking sustenance for his embattled and weary soul. Her hand rose up ever so hesitantly as he deepened his onslaught, drowning in her essence. There was the slightest pressure upon his wrist and she softly turned her head away from his, breaking the kiss.

Lincoln slid his hand slowly away from her cheek, tendrils of her hair catching between his fingertips, not wanting to ever let go. He searched her face, fearful he had scared her with his passion. Instead, he saw his desire reflected back to him in the dark depths of her eyes and he inhaled sharply, the protest from his ribs bringing clarity. He turned away and abruptly left before he stole more than a kiss from her.