COMING BACK

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Fringe and its characters are not mine, it doesn´t matter how much I wish they were mine.

Summary: What if Olivia wasn´t able to come back to our side by herself? What if this time it was Peter who went over there to bring her back? A.U. Tons of Polivia.

Thanks to: My amazing betas Talita and Olive_Dunham, who helped me a lot with this fanfic. This story wouldn´t be here if these sweet girls didn´t help me. Thank you for being so amazingly sweet and helpful. Tons of hugs and naked Peters for you!

Author notes: Sleepless nights should be used to enjoy the fandom, so, I decided to enjoy my lack of sleep and write. God bless insomnia. When I saw the episode where Peter discovers the truth about Fauxlivia and our Olivia comes back all by herself, I missed some more drama. I mean, Peter wasn´t there when she suddenly appeared in the lab and then they skipped the part where they met again… *sigh* My Polivia side was a little disappointed and my mind created a plot to make myself (and I hope some readers) happy. Fanfics were created for that reason. Now, I´ll stop my rambling so you can go and read the fanfic. Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 1: "There we go"

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"The universe is made of stories, not atoms."

(Roger Penrose)

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Peter wished he had known about it sooner. Now, every time he would close his eyes he'd go back to that night – two days ago – when he received the call that made him realize he's made a horrible mistake.

His Olivia was in the other universe.

The one sharing his bed was her alternate.

For the first seconds after hearing the truth he didn´t want to believe it. It was a lie, a cruel joke. But suddenly, everything made sense. The easy smiles, the subtle tension of her body when he made reference to their old jokes, the almost childish demeanor he had never seen before, and a long list of little things that he thought were related to the new happiness they were both feeling.

Yeah, he was stupid and egocentric like that. He thought she was so happy because of their relationship; that she was turning into a happier version of herself.

But now he knew better than that. The truth was that while he was having a great time enjoying this new stage of his life, Olivia was over there only God knows in what condition. And that was the worst part. He was worried about her well-being.

The message she left through the mysterious woman who called him was short and didn´t give him a lot of information, but the fact that she had to come over here to ask for help was an indicator that things weren´t right. And after seeing how their alternates considered them to be terrorists he was sure she was, at least, being treated like a prisoner.

"She has a message for you. She's trapped in the other universe." Those words sounded inside his head time and time again, making him cringe.

Olivia´s alternate – or Fauxlivia, like Walter preferred to call her – was being held by the FBI hoping she would give them some useful information to bring Olivia back. Of course, she refused to talk to anyone, which only made Peter feel more disgusted with her and himself.

How did he spend so much time with that woman and did not realize she wasn´t his Olivia?

The desire to bang his head against a wall until his skull broke open was irresistible, but right now he needed to think about a way to rescue Olivia, not about his own feelings. There would be a lot of time to torture himself later. Right now his only priority was Olivia.

The sound of Walter throwing a notebook against a wall made Peter look at him with confusion. Walter had been oddly quiet since he´d discovered the truth, working on a way to help the woman who he already considered was more than a simple partner.

"What happens?"

"This… this is impossible." Walter grumbled angrily. "There must be a way to bring her back, but my stupid brain doesn´t seem to be able to find it."

"Calm down and breathe, Walter. You can do it. I´m sure you can do it." It was evident to anyone in that room that Peter was trying to convince himself more than his father.

"I have thought about all the possible ways to bring her back, but most of them are based on the idea of going over there to help her to come back. The problem is we have no way to go over there without Olivia."

"I don´t mean to interrupt your talk, but… Don´t you think Walternate will make Fauxlivia return to their universe? She's got lots of information that I´m sure he will not want to lose. He´ll help her, so… if she can go back…"

"I can go over there with her." Peter interrupted Astrid´s words with a smile. "Of course! I didn´t think about that."

"You can´t!" Walter yelled. "It´s dangerous. What if…What if something happens to you? What if Walternate tries to keep you there? No, No. You can´t do that. We…We will find another way to help Olivia."

"I have to do it, Walter. She´s trapped there because she crossed over to save me. I can´t simply leave her there when there´s a way for me to help her."

And just like that Peter knew what he had to do. It took him quite some time to calm Walter down and make him realize that it was the right thing to do. Walter was still against that plan, but he had no choice in the matter.

In the past both Walternate and Fauxlivia had lied to him for their own purposes, but now it was time for Peter to lie to them and get something he wanted. That was the only way for him to save Olivia.

It was hard to get in to the place Fauxlivia was being held and talk to her. When the door opened and her eyes met his, something in his chest hurt. There she was, the woman he had shared his life for the last months. Months that had been a lie.

"Please, leave us alone." Peter said while he walked towards her. The door closed behind his back, letting him know they were alone.

"Peter, I…"

"Please, let me talk." He took her hand and looked at her eyes, feeling a pang of guilt when he forgot she wasn´t his Olivia but the one from the other side. It would have been easier for him if she still had her hair red. Then, he could have felt more like an actor trying to lie to her, not like a traitor lying to his Olivia. Even if it wasn´t like that, he was having a hard time remembering that. "I have realized something." He spoke with a soft voice. "When I was over there, in our world, my life was far better. I only came back because I wanted to start a relationship with Olivia, but it was you who came with me. It was you who I loved for the last months. And then-then I realized I loved you."

The lie was unbearable for him. Even if it wasn´t true. As much as he wanted to be sincere and show her how much he hated her lies, he knew she was the key to fix his mistakes. She was the key to rescue the woman he truly loved.

"If I can go back to our world I know I can be happy with you. Happier than I have ever been here."

"But, I thought…"

"I was angry at first, but only because I loved you. I was angry because you lied to me, not because of anything else." He took her hand and kissed the back of it, making his lips tickle her skin when he spoke. "I love you. Maybe I shouldn´t do it, but I do love you. Please, take me with you. Don´t leave me behind."

"I wish things were different. I wish we had met under different circumstances. Not like a part of a plan, but like two normal people."

"I know. Me too. But this is our chance to start over again. This time, in the right universe."

Her eyes looked confused for a moment and he was sure she wouldn´t believe his words. After all, he was feeling like a bad liar. Peter was ready to hear something he wasn´t going to like, but suddenly her eyes were soft and a light smile graced her face.

Somehow the fact that she believed his words so easily surprised him, and made him consider the fact that maybe, she did love him after all.

Except for Walternate – who was willing to use his own son as a deadly machine's battery – Peter didn´t believe in all that "good side versus bad side" theory that he had always seen in the movies. If she wouldn't have played with his heart and abandoned Olivia in a dangerous place without help, he would have had no reasons to hate her. After all, she was only a woman trying to save her world and the people she loved.

Broyles and the Fringe Division had known about his plan all along. They all played their respective parts like professionals, as if they were actors in an action movie, they played a fake fugue. Broyles made sure Fauxlivia had no doubt about how or why Peter was helping her to escape. By failing they would be missing their last chance to go over there. But of course, the plan was a total success.

Fauxlivia and Peter were exactly where and when they were meant to be. A bright light appeared signaling the beginning of his travel. Everything had been too easy for Peter to believe it, and soon his suspicions would become truth.

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Olivia was trying not to lose her mind and it was harder than anyone would believe. Her cell was small and caused her claustrophobia; it made her feel as if she couldn´t breathe right. Losing track of time wasn´t helping her either. She wasn´t sure if it was day or night, which wouldn´t make a big different to her anyway since her cell was pitch black most of the time.

Walter´s alternate didn´t seem to be interested in her anymore and her only interaction with other people was when someone would bring her food; the disgusting hospital-like food that she was afraid of eating. She couldn´t know what they could put in her food.

She wasn´t sure what they were going to do with her and that only scared her more. Whatever they had planned for her, she was sure it wasn't going to be nice. A lot of questions and regrets floated around her head whenever she thought about that.

Would she die soon?

Would her friends and family realize she was dead?

Would this really be the end of her life?

She didn´t want it to be like that. She had dreams, things she had always wanted to do, things she wanted to say to Rachel, to Ella, to Peter. There were so many things she thought she would have time to do… and now the end felt like a ghost hand hovering over her shoulder, ready to touch her and take it all away from her.

With fear suffocating her heart, Olivia pressed her back harder against the cold wall of the corner of her cell. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her face buried in the space between her knees. She hated to feel so small and defenseless. It made her feel like the child she had once been, the one who had always hidden in her closet hoping her step-father would never find her there.

Even in the deafening silence of that place, she wanted to cover her ears with her hands, as if she could stop her thoughts with such a simple gesture.

"You can still go home, if you want to." Peter´s voice came from the other side of the small cell. When Olivia lifted her face she saw him, looking perfect and handsome like he always did. It still amazed her how detailed her imaginary Peter was. He looked so real she wanted to reach out and try to touch him.

"I can´t do it." She whispered and hid her face again.

"Of course you can. You only need to remember how to do it. You have crossed once, you can do it again."

"I had help the last time. I can´t do it by myself."

"You know there´s more power inside of you than you want to admit yourself. It´s your own fear to discover how powerful you really are what is stopping you from saving yourself."

This time she didn´t reply because as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew he was right. She was scared. Scared of the truths she could discover if she dug too deep inside of her mind. The memories of Walter´s experiments, the scary powers she had seen on other subjects, the loss of control over her own life… there were too many things she was scared of.

"You will die because your own fear. It's your choice. Overcome your fears or lose your life. Are you willing to let them kill you without fighting back?"

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TBC…

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I´m sure you´re thinking there are a lot of things that make no sense. Well, I love to create stories where my readers will only have answers to their questions if they keep reading until the last chapter. I promise everything will make sense. :D