Honour your dead

Walter had disappeared. When I went to the lab after lunch, I found Astrid just becoming aware of the fact that Walter hadn't been around for few hours. As typical for him, Walter hadn't left any note and he was nowhere to be found in the University.

"Where could he have gone this time?" I asked aloud throwing up my hands in the air. This was getting so frustrating. He had been doing pretty well, leaving notes if he went somewhere or even remembering to tell someone before wandering off.

"Maybe he got so excited about the Halloween that he forgot to tell us that he left?" replied Astrid hopefully.

She was responsible for reminding Walter of the holiday, thinking that he would welcome the celebration. Instead Walter had become restless and seemed to become agitated. When I asked what was wrong, he started sprouting the history of Halloween: how the day was originally for honouring your dead and how it was supposed to be the day when the barrier between this world and the Otherworld became thin allowing spirits to pass through. Then he snapped out of it and asked for lunch like he hadn't been ranting about dead and spirits the minute before. And I came back to the lab to find him gone.

"Do you think he left because what I said about the Halloween?", Astrid asked worriedly.

"With Walter you never know so I wouldn't be too worried about it", I replied smiling slightly, but I was starting to think that something felt off. The way he had been agitated and it definitely wasn't because of the talk of the dead as knowing Walter, if zombies or bodies turned up, he would be the first one studying them, preferable hands on. One thing he was not was squeamish.

I was musing the weirdness of Walter and debating what to do, when I heard Olivia's voice asking softly, "Are you all right Peter?"

I turned around to find her standing with her head tilted slightly to the right with a quizzical look on her face. "You seem worried."

"Walter has taken off again and we can't find him", Astrid said "and I think it's my fault as he seemed upset when I brought up the fact that it's Halloween."

Olivia looked at me and I nodded. I brushed my hand through my hair and sighed.

"He seemed to become agitated and took of on a tangent about the origin of Halloween and all of the sudden seemed to forget what got him so in a twist and was asking calmly for lunch. When I got back from the lunch run he was gone. And so is my car." I added.

"Do you know where to go and look for him?" asked Olivia. "We don't have a case at the moment so we could go and try to figure out where he might have gone."

I could have kissed her right there and then. She was always so professional and focussed, but it was moments like this when she seemed to know that I was really worried about something, that she would say exactly the right words.

I gazed into her eyes maybe for a moment too long based on the questioning look she had in her eyes. I gave a little grin hoping that she wouldn't mind me ogling her once in a while. I knew she would wipe the floor with my ass if I pushed too far, but I could have bet that she secretly enjoyed the attention that she was occasionally getting. I wasn't too careless as to get caught all the time though.

"I did put a GPS locator in my car knowing that I might need to track it down at some point", I said grinning.

Astrid was already fiddling with the computer, bringing up the GPS grid.

"There he is!", she exclaimed a moment later.

Olivia was looking at the screen in front of me and I was peeking over her shoulder while at the same time sneaking in a good sniff of the glorious smell of Olivia Dunham. I was slightly distracted by her closeness and I was using the opportunity to inch my way closer to her.

Olivia looked at me over her shoulder smiling slightly, being fully aware what I was trying to do. Then she concentrated on the screen again when Astrid said, "That's odd, it looks like he is at an old cemetery. Do you have any family buried there Peter?".

That brought my attention back to the business in hand and this cat and mouse game we had with Olivia was pushed into the back of my mind.

"Cemetery? That's odd.", I said frowning. "Maybe all this Halloween talk made him to remember something."

"Would you like to have a little visit to a cemetery, it being Halloween and all?", I asked Olivia grinning. "You can never say that I don't take you anywhere", I continued with a spark in my eyes.

She just shook her head and smiled back and gestured for me to lead the way.

"I hope you will find him and that he's ok!", Astrid shouted after us.

XXX

Olivia was driving and I enjoyed the silence in the car. We had long ago passed the point where small talk was necessary, now we just enjoyed each other's company. I was also curious to find why Walter had gone to the cemetery and why alone when I could have driven him there.

Olivia found the small road away from the main road and came to a stop next to my car in a small parking lot. She looked at me then and I just shrugged as I didn't have any clue to why Walter was behaving this way.

"Which way?", asked Olivia once we got out of the car, looking around.

"Well, the main gate is here. After that I suppose it shouldn't be too difficult to find him as this place doesn't look too big and there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.", I said looking around noticing how overgrown everything looked. The place seemed to have been forgotten few centuries ago.

We walked along small paths looking for Walter and not talking. After a while we saw his figure standing in front of a small grave stone. He was completely in his own world and wasn't aware of our approach. When we were standing almost behind him I heard Olivia gasp and turn to look at me in shock. I raised my eyebrows asking silently what was wrong; however at that moment Walter became aware that he wasn't alone anymore. He turned around and became still when he saw who it was.

"You can't come here! You can't be here! Go away Peter, go away!", he started shouting franticly at the same time trying to shield the stone. He had been crying and still had tears streaming down his face.

I was just looking at him surprised, not having a clue why he became so upset and why he was crying and why Olivia also looked like she was ready to vomit.

"Walter, what are you talking about? What's going on? Who's grave stone is that?", I asked trying to peer around him to see the name.

Then I saw it. I froze. My mind froze. Time seemed to flee and leave only the space behind. I couldn't hear anything, Walter's voice seemed muffled. I could see Olivia saying something, but no sound came out of her mouth. There was only the roaring of my own blood in my ears. I could taste the blood in my mouth. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak. I stared at the grave stone and the name "Peter Bishop". And I ran.

XXX

I was numb. For once my brain kept mercifully quiet and let my motor functions take over. I ran like I had never run before. I kept barging into trees and bushes, slipped couple of times, before finally I couldn't breath from the fire in my lungs and my muscles quivered and wouldn't let me take another step. I stopped like I had run into a wall and crumbled on the ground.

It had started getting dark and it was starting to rain. I didn't notice any of this as I was completely wrapped in my own head.

"Is this how it feels to go crazy?", I thought. I couldn't process what I had just seen. Was I dead? Was Walter so far gone that he had thought at some point that I had died and he had buried me? I just sat there in a heap, dazed.

XXX

"Peter!", Walter was shouting after Peter just took off. Olivia had seen the look of horror on Peter's face, but was completely unprepared for how quickly he took off. Olivia was just about to take off after him when Walter grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go.

"Please, believe me. I didn't want to hurt anyone! I just missed him so much, I had to bring him over.", Walter kept talking about how he brought Peter over and how he always had come out here every Halloween as it was the day when he brought Peter over and how he came to honour the dead and how he had almost forgotten this year. Olivia couldn't make any sense of it.

"What do you mean you missed him? And what do you mean by bringing him over? Over from where?", Olivia frowned at the weeping man in front of him while at the same time trying to follow Peter to see where he was heading.

All of the sudden something clicked. Something Walter had told them about Peter being very sick when he was young and how Walter had been trying to make a time machine to reach a doctor to help him.

Olivia looked at Walter in horror. "Are you saying that Peter did really die? That this is his grave?"

"Yes", whispered Walter looking completely distraught.

"My Peter died. And it was horrendous and I missed him so much. But then I had a breakthrough at the lab and I was able to cross to the Other Side", Walter continued, pleading with his eyes for Olivia to understand.

"You brought the other Peter back", Olivia said finally understanding what must have happened.

"Yes", confirmed Walter.

Now everything started to make sense to Olivia. Peter's history of migraines, his nightmares, his restlessness and of course the way he felt that he didn't belong anywhere.

"Oh my god! I can't even begin to think what he must be going through!" Olivia thought in panic. She took out her phone from her pocket and dialled Astrid while not knowing exactly what to do with Walter. On one hand she understood how devastating it must have been to lose one's child, but on the other hand she couldn't even begin to grasp what the other Bishop family must have gone through to have their son snatched and taken to another reality. And poor Peter, how he must have been confused and scared.

Astrid promised to come and pick up Walter after Olivia promised to explain everything later. By the time Astrid arrived, it was already getting dark and it was starting to rain. Olivia was getting very short tempered with Walter and she was getting very anxious as she needed to get to Peter. There was no telling how this would affect him.

Once Astrid took over the baby sitting duties, Olivia started running to the same direction that she had seen Peter taking off. It wasn't difficult to follow his tracks as he had crashed through the vegetation like a wounded and crazed animal.

It was getting dark and Olivia had to switch on her flashlight. She was really getting worried, but then she saw Peter and her heart shattered into million pieces.

Peter was on the ground in a tangled heap, drenched through and through and seemingly unaware of anything that went around him. Olivia approached him slowly not wanting to startle him and softly called out, "Peter".

XXX

I don't know how long I had been there. I was numb, not feeling anything, which was a blessing. Some part of me was aware that it was dark, it was raining and it was cold and that same part was trying to arouse me enough to become aware how dangerous this combination was going to be. I didn't care. I didn't want to care. Until I heard my name spoken softly and I looked up into the eyes of a very worried Olivia and something snapped and I started shaking.

The next thing I'm aware was Olivia hugging me close, stroking my hair and just softly calling my name. I hang on to her like my life depended on it and maybe it does. I can't seem to stop shaking and that same nagging part of my brain was kindly informing me that I'm going into shock. And then I feel like folding into myself, falling deeper and deeper and all goes black.

XXX

When Olivia saw Peter starting to shake she ran to his side and dropped down to the ground and took him into her arms. She was trying to keep him warm and she was trying to comfort him. But then Peter lost consciousness and Olivia lost her calm and frantically called for help explaining her situation and the fact that she didn't know where she was. She kept holding Peter as close as possible and promising him that everything was going to be all right. That they would get through this all. She kept rocking him back and forth while sitting on the ground, looking in despair at his face, which looked so young and vulnerable, promising him and herself, that she wouldn't leave him. That it didn't matter where he came from as he was still her Peter.

When the paramedics finally found the right location, they found the distraught Olivia in the rain, in the dark, crying silently over an unconscious Peter cradled in her arms, rocking back and forth. When they tried to treat them both separately, Olivia wouldn't let go of Peter and in the end they had to work around it. They couldn't fit both of them onto the stretcher in the back of the ambulance so they had to put blankets on the floor to allow Olivia to continue to hold Peter.

She wouldn't let go even if the inter dimensional war would break out this minute with William Bell leading the troops. All she cared about was this still form of a man in her arms and she would do all the dimension hopping in all the possible universes and everything else that was required to help him.

XXX

I'm floating in and out and I feel comforted by the arms around me. I wish they will never let me go.

XXX