Something was rotten in Wonderland. Kate had begun to get a sense of these things, and while she'd been hesitant to declare such a thing at once, now Kate was sure.

She sat in Amadi's office nursing her latest injury. The latest inmate fight ended with Kate's wrist being sprained and a gash over her eye where she'd been smacked in the face. On top of that, she had a killer headache. At least everyone was contained. She still worried. There'd been more fights than usual. More trouble than usual. Kate wasn't sure she was ready for what that meant.

"It's not good," she shook her head. This was her assessment."We're in for a helide."

Amadi's usually calm demeanor was broken when he saw Kate hurt. He bit his lip, but then seemed to realize what he had done and quickly stopped. He stood from his desk and walked over to the window where sunlight poured in. He pressed his fingertips to it, longing for the days when his job was as simple as chaining the moon to the Earth. There weren't so many rules then, and he had been stronger.

"How bad is it, Kate?" He didn't use her last name. He was clearly concerned. "Are we at the breaking point?"

She shook her head at first, because that's what she wanted the answer to be, and she'd answered before she really thought about it. Kate wanted to say it was the full moon, or something equally as superstitious. This too shall pass. Things had been bad, before, but never this bad.

Kate sighed. "Well, not yet. We're getting there." There worst part was there was no throwing on the brakes. Deep down Kate knew things would get much, much worse before they got any better.

"So," she said, checking her reflecting in a small hand mirror and gingerly touching the cut on her face, "What do we do next?"

Amadi resisted the urge to shrug.

"I've installed a new alert system underneath the old one. My first concern has to be able to get in touch with CAPE in case of critical failure." He sighed. "I've tried to get more Heroes to come on patrol here, but we still have huge gaps where no one is here. I can't ask more openly, because we can't afford the bad press. Worse, we can't have the public panic that would create. Having inspectors jumping down our neck to appease them would just cause more security problems."

He sighed. "I've called five retired guards back at higher salaries. We can't expend the man power to properly train new guards." He shook his head.

"I think we're at the point where we just have to let what happens, happen and contain it."

She hung her head, defeated. They'd done what they could. We just have to let what happens, happen. Wasn't that a scary thought? There were so many ways that could turn out, and most of them weren't positive.

"You're probably right," she agreed. "We've already transferred prisoners to different blocks, to different prisons. It." It was useless. There was no more they could do and Kate was just going to have to accept this fact. "I just keep racking my brain to think of anything where we could get ahead on this."

But instead of getting ahead, Kate ended up bleeding. She was not powerful to do what needed to be done. She would just have to figure this shit out. She was clever.and not about to go down without a fight.

"I'll put in overtime," she offered. "I'll talk to some of the other powered guards. See if they'll do the same."

He nodded. "I appreciate your help as always, Kate. Don't run yourself into the ground, however. I can't afford to lose you." He turned around and frowned at her.

"I expect to lose my job if this comes to a head as much as I think it is going to. If that happens, you will be the natural replacement. Do you think you are ready to handle it again?"

Kate was sure she had misheard him. She made a face that was a horror-struck mix between stunned and panic. She was really going to have to get a grasp on the making of the faces.

"I think I misheard you," she apologized. "I thought you just asked me if I was ready to be Warden again." there was a beat. It was what he said. "I'm just having trouble wrapping my mind around that particular scenario."

Was she ready? Kate wasn't so sure. "Yours would be some very laroes to fill."

He shrugged. "I'm not doing as good a job as I hoped. The situation has clearly gotten away from me. And I don't expect to be forgiven for it."

She frowned deeply and looked down. "You're better at it than I ever was."

Kate couldn't handle it. She couldn't handle it before and why would she be able to handle it while the prison pulled itself from the ashes of chaos. "I'm sure you're being over cautious. People will understand. This might not even be as bad as we expect." Or so she hoped.

"I'm just not sure that I'm the right choice," she shrugged.

"You're all we have. Sometimes that's all it is." He shrugged his shoulders. "I hope it won't come to that. I just want you to be prepared in case it does." He reached into his pocket and produced a small red key.

"This is the key to my special files. If you need to read them, I keep this under my desk in a pull away panel." He slipped it back into his pocket for now.

"They'll tell you what you need to know if you're going to take over after me. If you don't...make sure the new warden gets it."

Kate nodded. She could handle that. That was easy. Now she would just have to go home and pray to whatever God would listen that the responsibility of warden not fall into her lap. She liked the bits of sanity that she had.

She studied him carefully. If Amadi didn't have the answers, who did? "How long do you think we've gone before it all goes south?"

"Less than a month. More specifically, I don't know. People are too unpredictable." He rubbed his eyes.

She slumped back in her chair. Great. Would that be enough time? Kate wasn't sure there would be enough time to be ready - if you could ever really be ready.

Well. They would just have to be as ready as they could. Kate had been a hero, once upon a time. Surely she could handle a few angry villains with back up. Kate could do this. She had to do it.

Kate forced herself to straighten in her seat. "Well. I'll try to be ready for whatever they can throw at me. Probably a fist or two." She cracked a smile.