I've long thought that there had to be someone else out there who knew Peter's secret. This came to me after watching "What Lies Below."
Puzzle Pieces
"I can't let Peter die again."
Astrid couldn't get those words out of her head. She'd always figured that Walter's mild obsession with Peter came from his time in St. Claire's but now she wasn't so sure.
She moved about her bedroom, folding laundry and putting it away. Mindless work while she pulled her memories together. Astrid examined every memory she had of Walter and Peter looking for some clue. As she folded a teal shirt Astrid remembered a run in Walter and Peter had with a Harvard alumni on campus a few weeks ago.
Flashback
"Wow! I used to know someone who drove a car just like that one."
Astrid was walking from her car to the Kresge Building housing Walter's lab when she heard a woman speaking on the sidewalk near her. She looked to the speaker, a woman in her mid-forties with light brown hair twisted into a bun. The woman was looking toward the Bishop's station wagon and an old style Mustang parked just in front of them.
Astrid looked around and saw Walter and Peter walking about 15 feet in front of her.
"Walter! Wait up!" Astrid called as she started to walk faster to catch up.
Walter turned around while Peter continued toward their destination a few feet before stopping. As Astrid caught up to Walter she heard the woman behind her call out.
"Walter Bishop? Dr. Bishop?"
Walter looked over to the woman and froze. He turned from the woman to Peter and back again.
"Do I know you?" Walter asked.
The woman laughed as she stopped in front of Walter.
"I realize it's been awhile but you used to know me pretty well. Well, your wife and son did, at least."
Walter backed up a step. Astrid and Peter cast a troubled look to each other. Peter shrugged and started over to the trio.
"I used to babysit for you until I entered college," the woman said as she brushed a hair behind her right ear. "You helped me get into college here. Although to be honest I think your wife made you help me."
Walter took another step back and ran into Peter. Walter quickly turned around and grabbed Peter's arm turning him around and forcing him toward the Kresge Building.
"Come along, son. There's much work to be done and time is wasting."
Peter tried to pull his arm out of Walter's grip as he turned to look at Astrid and the woman next to her.
"Walter…"
"Time is wasting, Peter! Gene can't be kept all day," Walter said as he kept a surprisingly strong grip on his son's arm giving Peter no choice but to go with him.
Astrid turned back to the woman who had caused Walter's odd behavior. The woman had a shocked look on her face, the fingers from her right hand covering her mouth.
"I'm sorry about that," Astrid said. "Walter gets that way sometimes."
The woman turned to Astrid, lowering her hand to her side.
"That's all right. I used to babysit for the Bishops until Peter turned 6 or 7 years old," she said, an odd far-away look in her eye. "I thought he had died," the woman whispered before turning around and walking away.
End Flashback
Astrid placed the teal shirt in the drawer before sitting on the side of her bed. At the time of the run in with the former babysitter, Astrid had thought the woman meant that she thought Walter was dead.
Now, thinking about Walter's reaction and his words from the other night, she wasn't so sure.