A/N: So, after a few months of no stories, I'm back. This is going to be a multi-chapter story, and the longest one I've ever done. I've already finished nine chapters, but a few of them are quite short, including this one. It's AU; Peter, Walter and Olivia have never met, and it's set before the pilot. Oh, and don't worry, although it may not seem like it at first, this is definitely P/O, because I just can't help myself. Also, I might post another chapter today, to make up for this one's length.

DISCLAIMER: Only the story is mine, all recognizable characters belong to their creators. And Fox. I think.

The sound of footsteps filled the dusty air, heavy with decades of history. It was anything but loud, yet it was the only sound that could be heard in the enormous room, except for two sets of heartbeats, and the rustling of pages. The source of the footsteps sat down next to a woman, just a little too close to be co-workers only. The woman was staring at the pages before her very intently, seemingly determined to absorb every ounce of information they contained, storing it all in her mind.

The man, however, was a bit more relaxed, his eyes drifting away from the file he was holding every now and then to the woman sitting next to him. Then, he dropped the papers onto the table where they landed with a dull bang, and turned towards his companion.

"'Livy, can't we do this some other time?" He asked, almost whined. "It's boring, and quite frankly, I could think of a lot more fun things we can do in a deserted basement…" He drifted off, but the woman only rolled her eyes towards him, and remained working, though her cheeks were getting a little flustered.

He persisted, however, and began moving closer, until his lips were mere inches from hers. He almost closed the gap, when she pushed him away slightly, and said:

"We can't do this here, John. What if someone catches us? We'd be fired!"

"Ah, come on. There's nobody down here!" He said whilst peppering her neck with kisses. The determined look on her face began to fade, and finally she gave in, kissing him back just as vigorously when suddenly a loud boom sounded, followed by an enormous noise. Screaming people, falling objects, guns being emptied and more screaming.

They jumped apart, startled by the noise and immediately grabbing for their guns. Then, another boom sounded, this time a lot closer and sending out a shockwave that threw all of the furniture in the enormous archive basement to the ground. Files and organizers, boxes and papers, chairs and tables were flying around and even the heavy, steel archive cases were moving slightly. Even before the sound of a third hit reached their ears, the cases were falling, and chaos was everywhere.

Around them, people were running into the basement, fleeing from the disarray above. Suddenly, Olivia noticed that John was no longer next to her.

She almost panicked. Where was he, she had to find him! With a rush of adrenaline and perhaps even the slightest trace of fear, she began moving things out of her way, bangs still sounding outside but further away, creating a path to where he'd previously been standing through the still falling debris. She made it to the second case when through the smoke she saw a limp hand, lying still on the gravel of a fallen wall. Olivia began digging it away, freeing his face and a part of his upper body when she noticed he wasn't moving at all. No. This could not be happening, not to her!

"John, look at me! John!" His eyes remained closed, and as she tried and tried to free him of the stale archive case trapping him, she became more and more frightened, the noises still continuing and the building still shaking. "Look at me, goddamnit!" No, John could not be dead. He couldn't, not when he was the first good thing happening to her in years, maybe even her whole life. She was still frantically digging away the debris and trying to get to him when suddenly she saw a man running towards them. He called to her, but she couldn't hear, completely absorbed in trying to save John, when suddenly, she felt a sharp pain shooting through her leg. Only seconds later her vision went black.

A/N: SO? Liked it, hated it, will never so much as look at me again for even mentioning John? Just let me know, I love feedback.