Not Meant To Be
A/N: This past week I've been an emotional mess. With Jily Halloween and crying my eyes out for them, then this week's Fringe; it's too much. Naturally to vent I wrote this because I'm awkward and that's how I work through feelings. Written before An Origin Story, but revised after because it was crap. This isn't Beta'd because my Beta has never seen Fringe (don't know why I'm friends with her) so if you see anything tell me :D Please review, simply because I am a review whore.
There were not many words to describe them really.
Passionate.
Stubborn.
In love.
But the one that fits them above all else, was not meant to be. And now, as they were about to complete the final part of their mission, it was the one that came to mind.
In a few minutes, their mission would be complete. And she had no idea what to say to him. He didn't either. Because really, how does one sum up a love that spanned alternate universes, none existence, time jumps and a lost child?
The truth is you can't. Not really. To do that you'd need so much time. Something they did not have. They only had minutes.
Olivia walked into the dim lab looking for Peter. He'd been working far too hard, trying to morph his pain into focus. But she knew what would happen if he kept doing that. They would lose each other. They were already fractured enough, scars from all that they had been through marred their relationship. This though, was the one thing that could shatter them. If they didn't survive this together, then they might lose each other forever.
Even though her daughter's absence was like a hole in her heart, one that would probably never go away, she needed Peter and her to work through it together. She had just lost her baby, she couldn't lose the man she loved too.
She saw him sitting in an almost prayer like position with his shoulders slumped as if he carried the weight of the world on them. She knew he was probably thinking of Etta, blaming himself for her death. Olivia wanted to bridge their gap and if they had to start fixing themselves sometime, then right now was as good a time as any.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
"You know 'Livia, I'm pretty sure we're the cosmic joke of someone up there."
This was not what she was expecting. His voice sounded broke, almost lifeless. He sounded like he had given up. After Etta's death he'd had an eerie resolve, a passion to avenge his daughter and kill every single Observer he could find. That Peter was a far cry from the Peter sitting in front of her who looked like he had lost everything, like he had simply given up.
She knew that whatever was making him like this would not be good.
"What are you talking about?"
"I solved the equation. I know how the plan's going to work."
"Peter that's brilliant."
To that he only snorted. He wouldn't even look at her. He just kept focused on the floor as if it held all the answers. It made no sense, how could he be like this? They would finally save the world. They would avenge their daughter.
"That plan isn't going to work?"
"Oh it's going to work. The machine that's powered by the rocks is essentially a sort of bomb. When activated, it will open a wormhole to a point in the future. The point when the Observers became Observers. When the wormhole's opened the machine will then detonate. We will essentially erase their existence, making it impossible for them to have taken over our time."
"Then why are you upset? I don't unders-"
"If we erase their entire existence, then we erase any interference they have made. History will rewrite itself when we activate it. It will rewrite itself without any sort Observer changes."
Then it sank in. Anything the Observer's had impacted would be set back the way it was meant to.
"September would've never distracted Walternate."
He finally looked at her. His eyes were red-rimmed and his entire face screamed sadness and loss.
"The timeline will be reset again."
She couldn't believe it. She was going to lose him again.
"Can't I just bring you back again?"
"Don't you remember what September said? You and Walter may have triggered my return, but the universe accepted it because I had a destiny to fulfil. I think this is it, the destiny I'm meant to fulfil."
"Is there no other way?" Her voice was barely a whisper. A plea to anyone who would listen.
"Any other way would mean that we kill the Observers now, this is the only way to ensure those who have lost their lives can live again."
Olivia felt herself crumple to the couch. Peter took her in his arms and held onto her for dear life. She buried her face in his chest as he buried his in her hair and they simply breathed each other in, their tears mingling together.
"What about Etta? If you never existed then she would have never been born. Are we supposed to just erase her?"
"'Livia, you know I would give anything to have Etta be born, but I will not become my father. We cannot let the world suffer for her. You know this is killing me, but it's what we have to do."
A fresh wave of tears rolled down Olivia's cheeks. Tears for the man she loved and would lose, tears for the daughter she will never even know, tears for the person she would be without them.
"How come we are always the people making sacrifices? Why can't we, after all we've done, just be happy?"
Olivia knew nothing she could say could possibly make a difference to their situation. But it wasn't fair. It was not fair. She had lost her daughter, but at least she had some memories of her. This reset would change that though. She would never even remember her, she would never know what it was like to hold her in her arms or hear her first words.
"I think that sometimes, some of us are just meant to be sacrifices. We're born to lose our lives."
Olivia's sobs only increased as she clung to him even tighter and all he could do was hold her.
And so there they sat through the night. Holding each other and waiting for what was bound to happen. They knew that saving the world would mean destroying their lives. But they did it anyway, because the right option isn't always the better option.
As they stood together, poised to save the world, no where near ready to lose each other, there was only one thing to be said, whispered in each others ears' the four words that had brought them together and would witness them break apart.
'You belong with me.'
As History rewrote itself with no Observers, they lived the lives they were meant to lead. Peter died as a child and Olivia became a Fringe agent. She forgot him, or rather she never had anything to remember. But at the back of her mind, there was always a sense of calm, a sense of happiness because she knew that somewhere, somebody had loved her once. Because once upon a time she belonged with someone, even if they were not meant to be.
Fin