Neither felt comfortable staying here. Yes, it was supposed to the lab, the most familiar place in the world to both of them.

But this wasn't their world. No one knew what was to come next.

They weren't use to staying in the lab this late at night…let alone spend the night in one. Olivia would've felt stupid to be scared of her old office, which now looked like an aging storage room. So she took her chances with the cot.

Later that night, she would be stirred awake…by something in the midst of her bad dreams, reminding her that she wasn't safe…that she wasn't where she belonged. The first thing she noticed was the dark and the dusty pile of boxes that was mere feet from her sight. This was definitely not home…not even close. It almost made her want to cry until she felt a hand stroking her hair. She lifted her head and saw Peter sitting on the floor just infront of the cot.

"Thank you, Peter," she whispered having been grateful that he stayed with her the entire night.

"It's no problem," he said. "I think we better stay here. If my father finds a way to cross over, we want to be someplace where he'll think to look for us."

Olivia nodded in agreement. It was difficult just to get through this first night alone with her mind so anxious and stressed. The cot didn't feel comfortable at all. But now, it really was all about survival.

It really was about getting through one night at a time.

~*~*~*~

Olivia was left in the lab alone during the day while Peter went out. She would often spend her time trying to rehabilitate herself physically. With time, she was able to lift a fork again (although her arm would shake doing so).

She had a hard time trying to stand up but once she did, it was no problem. There was no fear of her leg bones collapsing under the weight of what was left of herself.

Aside from food and clothes, Peter surprised Olivia one day with bringing back a walker. As thoughtful and wonderful as it was for Olivia's recovery, it still made her feel like an old person.

Peter was often trying to pull Olivia up and help her to walk himself, as though she were a child taking her first steps. But Olivia remained stubborn and determined to pull herself up on her own and used the walker around the lab to move around.

It was excruciatingly painful, but well worth it.

One day Olivia even took the revolver in her hands to practice her aim…but she could stop the shaking. It wasn't even that cold out. She though perhaps she needed a stress reliever. The cot was no help. But then…she eyed the bathtub.

She cleaned it out and then to her surprise got the water running.

The bath was soothing, despite how hard the water was and she let herself relax.

"Olivia? I'm home." Peter sarcastically greeted upon entering the lab. "Where are you?"

Olivia spoke "I'm on the other side of the pile of cabinets infront of you…taking a bath."

"Really?"

"Yes and I would appreciate it if you would respect my privacy and stay on your side."

Such a request was to hard to follow for Peter, mostly due to concern for her own safety but it could also be how unusual and yet so funny it was that he could easily peek around the corner if he wanted to see Olivia completely naked. "Are you sure? What if you sprain something and can't get out of the tub?"

Olivia sighed. "I'll be fine, Peter. So…what are we having for dinner?"

"A can of beans cooked over the lab Bunsen burner. I also brought some reading material."

"Reading material?"

"From the Harvard library…we're gonna need to figure this place out. Cause last time you and I were here, I don't recall half of Boston turning into a nuclear wasteland. I got some books and newspapers so maybe we can find out what happened here…and what to expect."

"That's a good idea," Olivia said as she her head back and looked up at the ceiling. After a few minutes, she felt it was time to get out but just as she reached over her side, a sharp pain had struck. The movement was too quick and Olivia found herself wincing in pain.

She groaned unintentionally loud enough for Peter to hear. "Liv? You alright?"

"I'm…fine…Peter."

The way her voice was cracking up, only an idiot would believe Olivia at this point. Screw boundaries. Peter walked straight over, around the cabinets and looked over.

Sure enough Olivia had a hand gripping the edge of the tub in a painful and vain attempt to pull herself out.

Olivia was sure to make Peter sorry for it, but he was going to accept the risk. He went to the other end of the tub and scooped his arms under hers. It wasn't any different from pulling her out of the tank, except…god help him…he had to keep his mind off the fact that she wasn't wearing one bit of clothing this time.

Fortunately, the old coat she had worn prior to the bath was quickly retrieved and Peter wrapped Olivia in it, drying her off. The pain in her side was still getting to her, so Peter had no choice but to lay Olivia on her side.

After that, he took a moment to calm himself. His face had gone completely red. Even though it had been only a quick glimpse, not enough time to take it all in, Peter still felt a little embarrassed as to what he walked in on. But he convinced himself it was the right thing to do.

He gave Olivia a very strange shy smile. "What? What's with you?" she asked Peter.

"Your face is red, too."

Olivia tried to quickly turn her eyes away from his. "The water was hot."

"Nice try, Liv." He suddenly picked her up. "Ah!" Olivia cried from the pain. "What are you doing?"

"Relax," said Peter. He was merely carrying Olivia back to the cot. After laying her on her side, Peter covered up with just about every bit of clothing they had in the lab to keep her warm after being pulled out so quickly. "See, no harm done. You still want to eat?"

"No," she snapped. "I'm just gonna sleep if you don't mind."

Peter said nothing and left her in the office.

She wasn't liking this at all. She hated the humiliation and the other awkward feelings she felt when it came to the constant intrusion of her privacy. Sure, it made sense during the first couple of months when she couldn't move or function on her own but now she was so close to feeling better, and Olivia wanted nothing more than to be Olivia again.

But the strain in her back was setting her a few steps back from recovering. It made her far from happy.

So as the weeks went on…the tensions began to flare. Olivia was suffering from cabin fever from being stuck in an empty lab all day and the bad attitudes would eventually get to Peter.

It got to the point where she wanted to sleep in the office by herself. Although deep down, it wasn't really what she wanted. The first few nights alone, she thought she could handle it. But soon it became clear that Olivia was still scared and would have trouble sleeping. She thought about bringing the cot into the lab but she didn't want to show any weakness. She needed Peter to know that she was getting better…which was far from the truth.

It also didn't help that he was still trying to get her to talk about their childhood…or at least what she remembered of it.

"Did you major in psychology, too?" she asked.

"No," he said. "But it doesn't take much actual knowledge of psychology to earn a degree in one."

"I don't need to tell you anything."

"Fine. It's not as though we have all kinds of other…fun things we could be doing waiting for Walter to come."

"I've been trying," said Olivia. "If I'm supposed to be capable of traveling between two worlds then maybe I can find a way to get us back."

"Yeah, but I think you need to have a healthy state of mind, to do that."

Olivia was deeply frustrated. Damn Peter for being right. "I'm trying, Peter."

"Don't try so hard."

She snapped. "Are you suggesting that we just give up and just live our lives here?!"

"Geez, Liv! I'm not trying to stop you! It's not good for you to push yourself like this!"

"At least I'm making an effort to get us out, Peter!" She was on the verge of loosing it at that very moment. "What if we go to New York? Last time I traveled here, the entire city was still there. Maybe there's an alter-Nina who could help us."

"I really think we should wait for Walter."

"What's the point in waiting for Walter?!" asked Olivia. "He's probably forgotten by now that we're even here. He probably thinks we're hiding in a closet somewhere back in our reality."

Peter sighed, knowing he couldn't argue with THAT logic.

"We can't stand around and wait for someone to come, Peter. We have to find a way out ourselves."

"Look, you're not ready to go anywhere."

Olivia was fuming. "But…" said Peter. "If you show any signs of improvement in a few days, maybe we can hitchhike."

"That's fine." She went walking back to the office with her hand on her side painfully. "Anything to get out."

~*~*~*~

For weeks Walter had sense a very tense feeling in the lab. Yes it wasn't coming from Astrid or Gene. In fact, it was usually when Walter was by himself that he would feel that strange sensation. Sometimes, it came from Olivia's office and other times it actually came from within the lab.

It was frustrating and yet at the same time, it felt comforting.

But one day Walter and Astrid came into the lab and nothing could be felt. Astrid went out and came back later with lunch only to find Walter shaking as he threw open every closet and cabinet door in the lab and in the office.

"Walter?" She turned Walter around and saw tears streaming down his face.

"I…" he said. "They're not in the lab anymore.'

"Walter…"

"But they've been here. They've been here for weeks. If only I had known. If I realized sooner…but now they're gone."

Astrid gave Walter a gentle hug. She could only assume that Walter was just having another mental breakdown coping with either the loss of Peter or his deteriorating memory.

His words never made sense to her anyway.