"What do you need?" Zellar asked sullenly. He wasn't exactly happy to be taking orders from Kristin, but was willing to play along for now.

"Blankets, warm saline, with an iv if you have it. And if nothing else, something hot to drink." Kristin called over her shoulder as she cradled Nathan's head in her arms. She waited until the door closed and the footsteps faded to release him again.

He coughed a few times, then took a deep rattling breath. "I'm ok, Kristin. Just tired, you need to work on getting yourself out of here."

"You have a chest cold, but if that's the worst of it I'll be happy. I just needed to be alone with you."

Nathan took hold of her hands and kissed one, "get out, that's an order, Doctor."

"I will, but not without the both of you." She replied, squeezing his fingers tightly. "I'm working on something to keep us all safe."

"Both?" Nathan coughed again and Kristin clapped him on the back.

"Yes... Nathan, Zellar took..." She was cut off by the doors opening and Wendell entered carrying an armful of blankets.

She stood quickly, "thank you Wendell, I'll take those. Can you bring the warm drink? And a space heater if possible? I'm worried he is devolving pneumonia and we need to get him warmed up."

Wendell allowed her to take the blankets but then hesitated, "Dr. Zellar said to stay with you, in case he tries something." He nodded towards Nathan, looking anxious. "Don't know why you are so upset, he just causes trouble every time we take him out. It's easier if he dies."

Sigh in frustration, Kristin scolded him, "Rubin wants to keep him alive for a few different reasons, do you really want to disagree with him?"

Wendell's eyes widened, "no... no ma'am, please don't tell him I said that."

"Fine, but stay back so I can work. I'll be perfectly safe with you simply in the room with us."

After Wendell took his position at the door, Kristin returned to Nathan and began wrapping him in the warm blankets. "What's going on?" Nathan whispered after watching the odd exchange.

Wendell stared at them intently, listening and waiting for any sign of Nathan causing a problem. "Hush," Kristin told him, loud enough for their unwelcome third party. "Do what you're told and you'll be fine. If you're good we'll be able to continue our interrupted diner without Carol."

"Carol? But..."

"Or, if you still want to talk to her, I know someone that can be an intermediary, he's just waiting until we're done here."

Nathan gaped at her for a moment before snapping his mouth closed. "I'm not so sure I'll need to, but thank you."

Seemingly bored with the blasé conversation, Wendell strolled to the air pump and began fiddling with the settings. Rather than risking him breaking the simple the code, Nathan laid down in the blankets and enjoyed the warmth while he could. Zellar reentered the room not long after, carrying a thermos and hotwater bottles. "I'm afraid we have no saline bags, but these should help."

Kristin took the supplies, "thank you, this will do nicely."

"Anything else, my dear?" Zellar asked, watching contemptuously as Nathan greedily drank the hot tea from the thermos.

Kristin finished packing the bottles around her patient, then stood. "Well, I believe we have saved him from hypothermia, but if you want to keep him alive, I suggest moving him into my old room. I'll stay with... where I am. He can't be in the water again. It will kill him before long."

Zellar glanced at Wendell, "we're there any of the issues we discussed?"

The man only stopped fiddling with the machine long enough to shake his head. Zellar nodded, "in light of your behavior today, I'll agree to it. Captain Bridger will be healthy and whole... if you continue to help me."

"Of course, Rubin, thank you." Kristin turned her back on Nathan and smiled warmly. "May I go now? I would really like to rest."

Zellar gently took her arm and escorted her into the hallway. "You are truly doing well my dear. Are you, perhaps, finally seeing my vision?"

"I won't deny I don't agree with your methods, Rubin, but I do see merit in tightly controlling people." Kristin finally admitted after the door was firmly closed behind her.

"That surprises me," Zellar glanced at her as they walked together. "You seem to be the type of person who thinks people should make up their own minds instead of having them made for them."

Kristin nodded, "I was, but look where that has gotten us. Children starve in the streets, while adults kill each other over different translations of holy books, oil, land, water, food. Everyone is fighting everyone. I'm just sick of it." She finished harshly, marching away from him angrily.

"I see," Zellar watched her thoughtfully. "If I may ask, what was the final straw? You were so against me only a couple of days ago."

She stopped, clinching her fists tightly. "It's foolish, but one of the games you had Lucas playing. You saw it, he designed two different scenarios. One for if people actually care about each other and try to help. The other… is if they just allow others to die. I know which scenario is more plausible. Is it really worth fighting you to save a world like that?"

Zellar stared at her in awe. "I never thought you'd agree with me. I…"

"Rubin," Kristin held up a hand, "please, we can talk all about this tomorrow. I'm exhausted, and I just want to lay down."

He blinked in surprise, "yes, yes, of course, my dear. I apologize." Zellar reached to unlock the door, then suddenly hugged her tightly. "Until tomorrow," he whispered in her ear before kissing it.

Kristin lurched through the door, leaning against it until the lock clicked. She began shuddering violently and leaned over until she was holding her knees. Gasping for air, she barely managed to not vomit. The shudders became shivers, and Kristin realized it was freezing. And she was alone.

"Lucas?" She called out timidly, "I… I'm back."

"In here," came Lucas' quiet, but strangely low voice.

Kristin entered the bathroom to see him sitting on the floor, all around him were the remains of the space heater. In his hand, was the needle and vial she had hidden. "Oh... sweetheart..."

"It's kind of a funny story, I came in here to work on something without the camera seeing me, I find this after sitting on the floor. Strange place to put something like this." His blue eyes flashed with anger.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't."

"Is this was he was giving me?"

"Yes... Did you..."

He shook his head and glared at her. "I'm not stupid enough to just shove a needle in my arm."

"You're right," Kristin knelt down beside him. "I should have told you I had it. I just didn't know how you'd react. He wanted to make me decide which was the worse evil after taking you off the medication."

Lucas tossed the items into the sink with disgust. "Why does he like messing with us? What's the point?"

"Well," Kristin pursed her lips, "I guess because we beat him. He needs to show us he's smarter over and over again." She picked up a stray piece of metal from the floor. "Care to tell me why you destroyed our main source of heat?"

Lucas sighed, "I had to do something. Just working on the computer made me restless. I found your hair thing in the blanket, and decided to pull apart the heater. We might be able to fashion some of the coils into a weapon."

Kristin raised an eyebrow at the metal carnage around her. "My barrette did all this?"

"Kinda, I just had to use it to loosen the screws. Everything else came apart easy." He handed her a sharp piece of round metal that he had straightened. "You can stab with it, or pick a lock. Whatever comes first."

Kristin stood suddenly, "Lucas this is wonderful. If we can get out of here, we can get Nathan out. I know where he is. Can you pick the lock to the room?"

"Yeah, of course." He took the implementation back and stood. "I just have to override the camera for our room. Right before we leave, we can't check the area then I'll do the rest."

Within minutes, Lucas had locked the video of them sleeping into the system, assuring Kristin that it was all anyone would see if they watched the footage. He asked her to keep an eye on the rest of cameras as he worked on the lock. "Is this another one of those things I shouldn't ask about you learning?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I think I need to have a talk with Mr. Krieg when we get back." She muttered over her shoulder, concentrating on the screen.

"Everyone blames Ben." Lucas snorted, "I wasn't an angel before I met him you know." There were a few clicking sounds, then he gave a happy shout. "Got it!"

Walking to the computer, he sat down. "Wait, this angle changed."

"What do you mean?" Kristin asked, leaning over him.

"When I first did this, the shot was lower. Now its waist high. See that?" He pointed to the doorknob at the bottom of the screen. "You can just barely see it."

She nodded, "should we be worried about it?"

"Nah, the camera could have been bumped at some point. We can still see if there is anyone out there." He clicked a few buttons, and brought up nine separate pictures of hallways and rooms. "There's the Captain, but I don't see anyone else. This is the best time to do this."

Kristin shook her head, "I don't like this, its way to easy. How do you know the video you're seeing is actually what's out there? If you can substitute something, so can they."

Rolling his eyes, Lucas sighed, "jiggle the doorknob, but don't open it." Kristin complied, watching the screen as closely as she could. "See? It's moving, we're in the clear."

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly, "as soon as we get out in the hall, Nathan's room should be two doors down. We get him and we get out. Nothing else, if we have to fight someone try not to kill them." She picked up one of the flattened coils and handed it to him. "These people aren't completely in control of their actions."

Lucas nodded, and pushed up the door. Reflecting in the harsh overhead lights, they saw the reason for not having anyone patrolling the area. Spread on the floor, from one end of the hallway to the other, was brutal looking shards of broken glass.